It All Comes Down to the Choices We Make
by Flywheel Shyster and Flywheel
Summary: Choices. We all make them. My name is Eddward and this is the story of how a series of them made me fall for Marie Kanker.
1. The Aftermath, Rewind, the Beginning

As I write these words, it's been over three years since I first started this story as a fic request by a former user by the name of Animeangel088. So here are a few things you should know going in.

This story could be read as stand alone _or _you could also read another one of my stories; 'The Detest for the Con Artist: the Choices We Make' which tell this exact story but from the perspective of Eddy McGee. Ergo, certain things in that story will explain some things in this story and vice versa but it's not necessary to read both to understand either one. Hell, if you understood that last sentence; you're free to do whatever you want.

I'll also admit that I didn't follow the requests to the absolute fullest (i.e. Sarah still having a crush on Double-D had to go when I began 'Detest') but I would still like to think that I got the main gist of it together in a nice bunch.

Lastly, you must know one thing that doesn't just apply to this story but to me as an author. I don't constantly write, I don't schedule when to write and I don't set deadlines for when a new chapter is set to be uploaded. So, as a warning to you, updates will not be regularly and there may be months after months between them.

Having said all that, I hope you will enjoy what I have come to call my Magnum Opus, the story that started it all; **It All Comes Down to the Choices We Make.**

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**Chapter 1 – The Aftermath, Rewind, the Beginning.**

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Oh, you don't know what a bad moment you have caught me at.

As you do not know me and I don't know you, I must begin by begging your pardon for intruding in your everyday life, but… I'm in a lot of danger right now. Certain, if not all, authorities are looking for me. My old enemies, the infamous Kanker sisters, are after me. My old neighbors in the Cul-de-Sac are most likely after me. But by far the most dangerous one who is after me; the one who could find me just by pressing a few buttons, the one who has the most to lose with me sitting here, the one who would not hesitate to kill me on sight is my sister.

Of course, you may know _of _me in which case the chances of you knowing about her are rather slim. You see, while my sister has been a big part of my life, it has never been the part that I openly talk about or the part that has inspired me and molded me into the person I am today; such as the case of Eddy's brother. Eddy… How fast worlds can turn in less than one month, barely even three weeks. Seventeen days to be more exact.

My current location is a secret. It is for mine and my friend Ed's safety. I can say as much that we are currently hiding under a bridge, the fire from our abandoned vehicle above us creating the illusion that the surface of the lake in front of us is ablaze.

We haven't been in an accident if that's your first thought, quite the opposite; the reasons for Ed and I ending up under this bridge are plentiful. Just like nothing these last 17 days have been anything close to accidents; it was all parts of great plans out of my control, leaving me with the dreadful consequences. Eddy's atrocious betrayal. Kevin's hate. Sarah's attempted suicide. Marie's… Marie's… She…

Marie. Marie Kanker.

If you know who I am, which I'm going to assume you do to some degree, you're bound to know of Marie. Of course, on the offhand you know neither of a beautiful young woman by the name of Marie Kanker or myself, let me introduce myself. My name is Eddward, Eddward Hammer; Double-D for short. I'm probably most known as part of the trio Ed, Ed- Sorry, _former _trio Ed, Edd n Eddy. As you may know or have figured out, I am the one known as Edd in the small, infamous group.

The first one in the group, Ed Firefly, is the one sitting next to me right now; observing the lake with an empty stare. I'm not all that certain he knows everything going on and I know that he's in no state to be told these horrible events for now. For all I know, he might never be the same after tonight.

The last one… Eddy McGee-Driftwood. We were like brothers, bickering back and forth at times, only to be closer than ever at the next moment. But it's his fault. Everything is his fault. If he hadn't- She would've- They both would've- God damn it, I hope she's found and killed that bastard by now.

…

I apologize. Slowly, piece by piece, it's all starting to sink in. What's happened. What drove us away from our home. What killed them. The mere fact that… That they're dead.

I wonder how long we can hide under here. The flaming wreck, that once was a broken down purple van containing a water-bed, is now not only a distant memory of our childhood but a perfect way to locate us. But as I've may have said; Ed's in no state to move or do anything. So for the time being, we have nowhere to go. We have no one to go to. And for now, I have nothing but my own thoughts to keep me company.

Perhaps… If it's not too much of an inconvenience, would you like to go through the last seventeen days with me? Not for entertainment reasons, I assure you; this is a dire story of true love, horrid betrayal, the death of friends, almost omnipotent powers unknown to the public and cucumber soup.

…

I must warn you; by the time we reach the end, I may not be the very same man speaking with you right now and chances are you will not go unaffected by this horrendous story.

…

Very well, do not claim later that I have not warned you.

I would assume it all started… That one afternoon, seventeen days ago.

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**_Day one: April 17, 4:12 P.M._**

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"Eddy, I believe it would be quite impossible to sell our services as wedding planners." It was an afternoon like any other; after a long of day studies (a long day according to my two friends) at Peach Creek High School, we were on our ways home to our neighborhood, a small but infamous Cul-de-Sac in central Peach Creek in the outskirts of San Francisco. Eddy, the unpronounced leader of our trio, was throwing suggestions for scams out in the air. It was the sort of thing we were used to doing in our childhoods, right up to our pre-adolescent years but subsided fairly quickly after we all reached puberty. Eddy still liked to toy with the idea of 'pulling off one last big one, for old time's sake, before retiring for good'. I couldn't say any of the suggestions so far had been reasonable or even realistic for that matter. "All of the Cul-de-Sac kids' parents' are happily married and I seriously doubt that anybody in San Francisco would hire three adolescents' to plan their wedding."

"But what about-"

"Hello boys." What I can only imagine to be another idea pulled out of the thinnest of air was interrupted by two very familiar voices. Too familiar. The three of us spun around in unison and once again found ourselves staring the Kanker sisters in the eyes.

"Don't you want to walk us home boys?" Lee, the very pronounced leader of their sisterhood, had had a crush on Eddy since we first ended up in their trailer all those summers ago. Eddy, like Ed and I, had never returned those feelings yet they still swarmed after us; never faltering in their pursuit of us, even after countless of years denying any amorous feelings on our part.

"Yeah, we can share some milk!" May, the youngest of the sisters (the one relieved of all intelligence as well), gazed dreamily at Ed who looked like he wanted nothing more but scream her in the face and run.

"Hiya Double-D." Marie Kanker, the middle sister, had always had an attraction to me; her exact opposite. After years of having her breathe down my neck and constantly being on my tail, I knew every one of her moves. So naturally, I had to notice that there was nothing flirtatious in her voice. Nothing sensual. Nothing that indicated intentions to jump and ravish me. Nothing of that! I heard a sincere 'hiya, Double-D' with no bad intentions! You must think that I'm strongly exaggerating the importance of this 'hiya, Double-D' but after years of being called 'Oven Mitt', 'Love Muffin' and other obscure things, just hearing her call me by my established nick name was enough to make my thoughts race.

"Heck no!" Eddy's voice pulled me back to reality; a reality where he was now slowly backing away from Lee Kanker who, I am not making this up, licked her lips.

"Every Ed for themselves!" One thing you must know about Ed is that he has never been subtle. At anything. Especially not in hiding his disdain for the three sisters. So before I could even bat an eyelash, I watched my two best friends take off down the street in sheer panic. A lone thought crossed my mind; Animal Planet. My flock had abandoned me and I was now an easy target for these vultures. I could feel the nervousness take over and I did the only sensible thing. I closed my eyes and turned slowly to meet my fate. Quite that far, I did not get.

I felt my whole world turn sideways and when I opened my eyes, I saw the backs of May and Lee Kanker, running away from me; in the very direction my frightened friends had fled. In any other scenario, this would have been a good thing for my well-being. Unfortunately, as I was taught how to count to three at an exceptionally early age, I knew there was one sister missing. My head turned over to see a pair of worn and torn Adidas sneakers that could only belong to one person. But there was something wrong with the picture; the shoes were standing still, something I had never experienced before. Gathering up enough courage, I almost leapt off the ground in frightened surprise when I looked up and saw… That she was holding out her hand, an annoyed look on her face.

"Do you want help or not?" I can only imagine my eyebrows disappearing into the depths of my trademark beanie. Still in shock by the _very _out of character gesture, I took a firm hold of her hand and let her pull me up a bit too easy.

"Thank you, Marie; I-"It was first then I realized who I was standing face to face with. Marie Kanker, the blue haired girl who had been tormenting me even in my dreams, was standing in front of me with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow. And… Nothing happened. Well, not nothing; my nervousness reached critical levels, causing sweat to burst out from both forehead and palms along with a tremor slowly spreading throughout my whole body almost instantaneously.

"Gee, relax, would you? I ain't gonna jump you or anything. I'm done with all that." She… What?

"What?"

"Look, all that shit in the past, all the shit May and Lee are still doing? I'm sorry for it." I couldn't believe my ears.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for it. Really am. I did some soul searchin' and came to terms with the fact that you don't like me the way I like you. And if I can't have you that way… I'd like us to at least be friends or some shit." I was just staring at her, absolutely dumbfounded, during her very surprising confession. She snickered in response. "Just wanted to let you know. Whenever you're ready." With that, she hoisted her bag further up on her shoulder and walked past me, careful not to bump into me.

What had just happened? Marie Kanker, _Marie Kanker_, had asked me for forgiveness. Why had she done that? Maturity perhaps? But why now? Like Eddy says when turning in his homework; better late than never. What if it's some big Kanker scheme to lure me into her arms? Oh, come now; I hardly think-

While this internal dialogue was going on, my subconscious, who obviously wasn't invited to the conversation and quickly grew tired of it, made one of the defining choices in this whole story. It opened its mouth and spoke.

"Apology accepted." What made the discussion between me and myself stop was the fact that… It was I who had spoken. Out loud.

"Really?" Evidenced by the fact that I heard how Marie's Adidas stopped dead in their tracks behind me.

"I- I accept your apology." Nothing I have done before and nothing since has been as slow as the turn I had to make to face her that afternoon.

"Why?" If her confession had thrown me _off _track, that question threw me right back on. Why would I forgive her for years and years of torment, just like that?

"I- I would like- like to think that… Even after all that has happened between us, we could settle our differences and really consider ourselves to be… Friends." That was not a lie; many a times catching my breath after one of the notorious 'Kanker chases' I had wondered what Marie would be like had she not had a rather unhealthy obsession with me.

"I- I- Gee, thanks." She seemed shocked; that I would actually accept her olive branch had apparently not occurred to me.

"And I thank you." Before I could think, or even react to what I dubiously call my action, I had wrapped my arms around her in a wholehearted embrace. Only when I heard her softly sigh and actually hug me back did the usual alarms go off. Why would I hug her now?! Because, and I'm almost certain it was my subconscious that answered me this time, of her shampoo. Pardon? Just… Her shampoo, I have my reasons! Deciding that bickering back and forth with myself was nothing but a big waste of time, I inhaled discretely; my nose a mere inches away from the sea of blue.

Strawberries have never seemed so out of this world.

"Want me to walk you home?"

"Hmm?"

"My sisters're probably still out there, somewhere." It took me a moment to realize that she had broken out of the embrace, leaving me in a haze of strawberries tinted blue. Once I came too, I saw that she wasn't completely unaffected either; a very faint blush spread across her freckled cheeks.

"Oh, yes; I would very much appreciate it."

"Great." Silence came upon us almost instantly as we begun our walk down the very street her sisters and my friends had gone down. There was a noticeable tension of awkwardness in the air; for obvious reasons, how could I think a hug would be anywhere near appropriate with our history?!

"So… What is your opinion of today's religious discussion? I couldn't help but notice your participation was a bit more enthusiastic than per usual." What will always have amazed me the most about my brain is not the fact that it holds a big amount of knowledge or can work under a lot of pressure, no; it's the fact that I managed to do pretty well in my first real conversation with Marie while it was arguing with itself.

"Principal told me if I get at least B- in all subjects, I could get into college down in L.A. So, I gotta start somewhere 'cause I'm sure as hell ain't stayin' with my sisters forever."

"Why, that's fantastic! I mean the Los Angeles part of course…" I swallowed nervously, in fear of offending her in any way, but she just shortly waved it away.

"It is pretty great. Almost changed my mind when I realized how far behind I am in everything. But, have I ever been known to give up?"

"Ahem…" I pointed to myself and she grew quiet and just stared at me. I was afraid I had crossed yet another line when, to my great surprise, she burst out laughing. Not the shrill, terrifying laugh that often accompanied a particularly good hunt, no; it was genuine, warm and truly joyous. And… The sound made my spine quiver.

"Aight, maybe once."

"Admitting we're wrong too? Who are you and what have you done with Marie Kanker?" There was too much playfulness in that statement for my liking but she didn't seem to mind; she retaliated by punching my arm playfully. It took all my strength to stay upright on both feet; she had quite the arm on her.

"Yeah…" She paused. "But that discussion today was kinda cool. Think about it sometimes."

"Which part?"

"The destiny part. I don't believe that there is, you know, some big stone tablet in the sky where there're goals we have to complete just to get into heaven. It's too simple."

"I agree."

"But-"She continued, apparently rather passionate about this subject. "I think that there's something, somewhere out there in the vast darkness of the universe we don't have the intelligence to understand…" Her gaze locked on the clear blue sky. "Somewhere… Anyway, what do you think?" She turned her head and I once more felt nervous being watched by those piercing blue eyes.

"Me?" I hadn't actually been expecting to be asked on my opinion; most people knew by now that if it was a question or problem with possibility for a longer answer/solution, I would choose it.

"Who else am I talking to?"

"Right… Well, I would say that, as you put it, there is not a predetermined 'fate' or 'destiny' for any of us. Instead, everything that happens or will happen is within all our control. Nothing more than consequences of our choices; choices you or I make may only affect the two of us but choices that more 'powerful' men and women make might affect a bigger group of people."

"So, free will?"

"More or less. For example, imagine that you're walking to school when suddenly, a giant dinosaur appears out of the bushes." I didn't even finish the sentence before she started to laugh.

"Why the hell would a-"

"It's one of the cons of being friends with Ed; your imagination is bound to expand to obscure levels."

"Aight, dinosaur on the way to school." She couldn't even get through that without snickering. I could see why, it was an absolutely ridiculous example.

"It's the choices that both of you made before that meeting that brought you to it. For instance, had you maybe slept in, had it not chosen that particular bush but the one across the street or something as simple as stopping to tie your shoes while an innocent freshman gets ambushed and eaten instead of you."

"I see where you're getting at but that was the shittiest example I've ever heard." She nudged me with her shoulder to show that it wasn't meant as being mean.

"I'll admit, it wasn't the best I've conjured up."

"But…" At the very end of the Cul-de-Sac, just outside Jimmy's house, she stopped and smirked slyly "If we stopped here for, let's say, thirty seconds because little old me had to tie her shoes…" She never broke gaze or smirk as she slowly reached down and undid her shoelaces, only to slowly redo them. "Maybe we'll be able to dodge whatever dinosaurs hiding in the bushes around here."

"Yes, that's…" For what felt like the seventeenth time that day, I laughed nervously. This time because she was staring at me. And I mean _really _stared at me; almost like she was trying to see what lied beyond my eyes and analyze my deepest being. Or maybe I was exaggerating the whole thing out of nervousness because that was the first time I had actually looked at Marie Kanker as a… Young woman.

It felt like I never wanted to stop.

"Hey, Double-D!" Until I heard her voice. There was only one person that voice could belong to. Marie's confused and surprised look turned dark and murderous confirmed it; she was back.

"Hel-" I had barely turned around in the direction of the voice before I was engulfed in a bone crushing hug that could very well rival that of Ed's.

"It's been so long since last! Holy shit, you've grown like a foot or something!"

"Spi- Spinal cord!" Her carefree laughter rung in my ears, as it had done so many times before, as she put me down; always having been stronger than me. She had been right though; I was a good couple of inches taller than her now.

"You haven't changed at all!" I glanced to my left and wished I hadn't; Marie was trying hard, though failing, to hide the white hot fury of jealousy.

"I'm Marie." I had upset Marie in the past on a number of occasions but never had I heard the venomous tone her voice now held. Grace didn't appear to notice but just elbowed me softly in the ribs.

"I'm gone for over a year and you forget all your manners? Shame, Double-D!" I could only shake my head and as my eyes travelled between the two of them, the thought that these two never should have met popped up out of nowhere. Maybe it was my subconscious again, who knows? Whatever it was though, it was right. Oh, how right it was.

"Pardon my rudeness; Grace, this is Marie Kanker." They extended and shook hands but knew that at the first sign of struggle, they could easily break each others' necks. "And Marie, this is Grace Hammer."

"Hammer?" Surprise replaced the fury in her face and I nodded in response.

"Yes. Grace here… Is my sister."


	2. Revelations

**The Detest For the Con Artist: The Choices We Make**! Can't promote enough!

Oh, and I decided to clean up big parts of the story (mostly moronic grammatical mistakes I made as a young author) so... You know, I might change a sentence or two here or there. Not to worry; the main everything will still stick.

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**Chapter 2 – Revelations**

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Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

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_**Day one: April 17, 7:17 P.M.**_

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"What brings you back to our friendly neighborhood, Grace?" We (that is Marie, Grace and I) were sitting around the Hammer kitchen table. Marie had eased up a little but still did not like the strange woman she had neither seen or heard of before.

"Just visiting my little brother, that's all!" She reached out and pinched my cheek, resulting in my face turning red. Even though I was about two months away from 18, my five year older sister still treated me like the four-year old who had great difficulties riding his bicycle.

"So, why haven't we seen you around here before?" Marie raised an eyebrow, gaze ice cold. Grace, who was a master at the art of human... Getting ahead of myself a little. Grace noticed indeed that Marie had a problem with her sitting there but did nothing but smile back politely.

"I just wanted to get the hell out of here in the middle of high school; I couldn't take the physical and mental abuse anymore." I glanced at Grace, her feelings towards our parents were perfectly clear. But after all this time, had she not forgiven them? If not, why had she returned? Oh, so sorry, getting ahead of myself again.

"Abuse?" Marie's face became a mask of confusion.

"Bullying if you want. You see, the guys abused me mentally and the bitches abused me physically."

"Why the hell would-"

"I'm gay." Marie's mouth opened and closed, at a loss of words.

"Oh." An awkward pause appeared; as a small community, homosexuality was not only a rare thing to come across but also a subject that was socially taboo.

"Yeah, our parents had about the same reaction. Except after shock came denial. Then rage. Then emotional breakdown. Then-"

"Straight-camp." I filled in. Grace looked over at me in surprise and gave me an impressed look.

"Seriously? Straight-camp?"

"Well Marie, the thing about our parents is-"

"_Hello there, the angel from my nightmare_" The song that interrupted me, a particularly sad one if you ask me, seemed to originate from Marie's pocket.

"Sorry..." Marie started to dig around said pocket and glanced apologetically at me. Grace made eye contact with me and mouthed something I didn't quite comprehend.

"Ahem!" She contradicted her own actions by coughing loudly and discreetly pointing to Marie. I couldn't help but roll my eyes; Grace had never been a fan of questions.

"That was Mom; she wants me home for dinner." My blue-haired friend- Yes, even this early I thought of her as a friend- got up and started to back away from us slowly, towards the front door.

"Oh..." Was apparently all I could say.

"It sure was nice to meet you, Marie." The two women smiled at each other; one rather insecurely, the other one with an act of warmth and reassurance.

"You too, Grace. See yah, Double-D." I barely got around to opening my mouth before the door was shut rather loudly.

"She seems nice." Grace's smile quickly turned into a smirk and a condescending look.

"Grace, is it really necessary to feed people these excuses; these lies?" I knew very well that it was necessary.

"You know very well that it was. A back story is-"

"'Always your most valuable friend', I remember." I did remember her last, rather quick, visit very well; it was the year before last during the pumpkin harvest. That is, the pumpkin harvest for Eddy. Raiding our neighbors' front yards for pumpkins three days after Halloween to later that day cut and grind them down to bake it all into... Pumpkin pies. I cannot say I am proud of myself for half of the scams we executed over the years.

"I have taught you well, little brother." She smiled proudly at me before getting up and guiding me to the living room couch by placing her hands on my shoulders'. "So... Fill me in on shit around here. You know, who's single and who's not; that kinda shit."

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_**Day two: April 18, 1:17 P.M.**_

* * *

The next day in school was rather uneventful, the most exciting thing being Eddy answering a teacher's question correctly.

* * *

"_Mr. McGee-Driftwood, please state a grammatically correct sentence."_

"_Buzz off."_

"_Very good Mr. McGee-Driftwood!"_

* * *

Eddy had seemed rather... Off during the day. I didn't pay much attention to it though when I hung my bag over my left shoulder and exited the school building due to an early day. As I said, a rather uneventful day.

But even if something was to happen, I still wouldn't be able to register it what with my mind being filled up with ghosts' from the past, thoughts about my sister as well as... Marie. Marie Kanker was on my mind. Her motives... I was perfectly convinced that after all this time, yes; she had changed as a person. But was it permanent? Or would she revert back to her old mischievous ways within a few weeks? The questions' about Marie were only overthrown by the unrelenting ones about Grace's return. Why had she returned?

"Yo! Double-D!" While she had yet to say it, I already knew why. To rescue me. Every few years, she would come back to her childhood home to convince me to move in with her. Or, as she put it, 'finally escaped those neglecting assholes that dare to call themselves parents'. Even though I always politely declined her invitation, she returned at least a year later to repeat the offer. Though it was always to see her, alive and well.

"Double-D! Slow down!" Spending time with my Grace always brought out memories that had been buried deep within my cerebral cortex since last she visited; some that didn't even involve her. Memories of scams that had failed miserably, that surprisingly enough succeeded, homework assignments, Christmases, Easters, Halloweens, evenings discussing everything from life to love with her, everything. To think that meeting with a sibling could be as effective as deep brain stimulation.

"Son of a-"The thoughts concerning the presence of my sister shattered when I was suddenly swooped up into the arms of someone who quickly broke into a run.

"What- I demand that you put me down this instance!"

"Oh, like you haven't always dreamed of being held close by me?" Whoever it was carrying me in the traditional style one would carry ones newly wed bride let out a laugh. The odd thing- or the thing I probably should have expected- was that I recognized the laugh as that of...

"Max Flywheel?"

"The one and only!" I tilted my head backwards to look up at his pale face with those clear blue eyes exploding with such life, you'd think they were going to shoot right out of his skull; the golden hair being forced backwards by the wind.

"Where have YOU been for so long? Why are you wearing those clothes? And WHY the devil are you running?"

The Flywheels were a family that used to live here in the Cul-de-Sac having renovated the old abandoned 'ghost house' sometime after our little escapade that begun with a vicious scam and ended in an unfortunate meeting with Eddy's brother. When speaking of 'the Flywheels', one usually refers to the five children in the family since, following Rathink Avenue tradition, their parents were away on business most, if not all, of the time. Back then, Max and his brother Simon were the ones to spend the most time with us Eds while the other three siblings branched out amongst the other Cul-de-Sac kids. Unfortunately, the whole family moved back to their native New York about two-three years ago but never sold the house; staying in it whenever they decided to stop by for a friendly visit.

"Excellent questions I must say!" His already smiling lips got stretched out even more and the sunglasses on his head fell down to cover his eyes. "No fear, my lovely; all of your questions will be answered within due time. I can even answer one now; I'm running because I'm really thirsty and you'd be too damn slow to keep up with me!" I still wonder what Marie would have said if she saw us jogging into the Cul-de-Sac that day. A man jogging in a long, black trench coat with sunglasses holding me close in his arms.

"Could you at least put me down? Someone may be watching..." He snickered.

"There we go, safe and sound at home!" He ignored my request and only lowered me down once on the front step of my house where I unlocked the door and walked into my ever so familiar home. Kicking off his shoes, Max had the decency of a guest to walk into the kitchen and wash his hands before, judging by the noise, downing three glasses of water and wandering over to the window next to the front door, his fourth glass in hand.

"I believe you were going to answer some questions?" He turned around as if surprised I was still there.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, talking." He sighed and fell down on the couch with a thump. "Where are your folks?"

"Business trips."

"Oh." He wasn't surprised; when both my parents became promoted, they stopped working nights and started to travel extensively instead. "Well... Your first question was what hole I've been hiding in, correct?"

"Not my choice of words but in a nutshell, yes."

"Okay..." He took a deep breath, as if preparing to make a long speech. "Spencer and I've been down in Rio for some time, visiting Spencer's... Friends." It didn't feel like the word he was actually going to use but I decided not to pry. "We spent about... I think a month there before heading back home to the Big Apple."

"To visit family?"

"Indeed."

"How are they?"

"Oh, Simon's just fine, he's... You know, Simon. Linus, Oliver, likewise."

"And Spencer?"

"I think you can ask her that yourself soon, she came here with me."

"She did? That's marvellous " As I said; the Flywheels just absolutely loved to make unannounced visits to Peach Creek. Like that day's peculiar visit that ended in... I'm getting ahead of myself, yet again.

"Yes siree, yes siree."

"And your parents?" Something dark came over Max's face when I asked him that and I don't blame him.

You see; this story, from my point of view, started only seventeen days ago. Max's story, the Flywheels' story... It's one that has been told for years and still goes on, even after everything that has happened.

"They're... Fine, I guess. Being on the road, we don't really meet that much. Moved to a new place they did."

"That's nice for them."

"I guess." He shrugged and paused for a moment."Where was I?"

"New York."

"Oh yes, home sweet home!" The dark shadow had lifted; he was back to his usual grinning self. "After we got bored with the family, as one does with the Flywheels after like fifteen minutes, we rented a car and travelled through the country. Had a little run in with the law in Michigan-"I didn't want to know. "- Several car chases in Detroit-"Even if it was true, I didn't want to know. "- Went back to Ohio to pick up Linus at an Asparagus festival-"... Coming to the Flywheels, the most innocent thing was probably the most unexplainable one.

"Well, you've been around then."

"You could say that twice... After a whole lot of more interesting shenanigans, we went through Las Vegas to get ourselves here. That is, I got myself here to Peach Creek, Spence and Linus stayed in the big city to do some touristy stuff. That was... About seven and a half months ago."

"Ah! So you were at Nazz's party after all!"

"Holy shit if I was..." He mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"I meant to ask you; what happened that night? I tried to get some feedback from Eddy but he claimed he was 'just too damn hammered to remember anything'."

"If you have the patience, I'll get to that part later." I nodded and he took a moment to think; back at the night of the party, no doubt. "I left for the train station, met up with Spencer and Linus who yelled at me for like five minutes for being late, travelled down to Phoenix where we have an aunt with a lazy eye who just love to make us goat cheese sandwiches which Linus always-"

"That reminds me, something I've been meaning to ask; how can you afford this obsessive travelling?"

"Now THAT is a story for itself." He got up from the couch, circling the armchair I was occupying instead. For as long as I'd known him, he very often got restless just sitting down in a conversation. "Well in Phoenix, Spencer dragged me down to Rio again for some unfinished business with a guy she's got it going on with down there. Or maybe it was a business she had some unfinished guys with. I don't know, I wasn't listening! Now... Where was I? Oh yes! We left Linus in Phoenix, never could stand the Brazilian humidity, from where he travelled back home to New York again."

"I say-"

"Oh, Double-D; please! You know how I get when I get interrupted!" He shot me a pleading look and I motioned for him to continue; Max had a very rather short attention span, something that could well be attributed to some of the other Flywheels. Meaning if I lost him now, I could very well never hear the ending of the story. "After a week or so down there, we got a phone call from an old contact. This was back in January, like three, four months after the party at Nazz's and the call... Well, you'd think somebody would've noticed something."

"What did the phone call concern?"

"A hate crime. A horrible hate crime in the San Francisco area, namely Peach Creek." My eyes opened up in involuntary shock.

"What? Here?" He nodded. "That is impossible! In such a small community, something like this would have been the news of the year!"

"The contact said that for security reasons, someone quieted the entire thing down and removed the name Peach Creek from the entire case just calling it a 'community in the San Francisco area'." I was dumbfounded to say the very least, this was... Just impossible. How could something like a hate crime not make its way out even when quieted down? Peach Creek was the sort of small-city town where news, gossip even more so, seemed to travel at the speed of light.

"But... January, wouldn't that be-"

"Oh, no, no, no, my confused little friend!"He stopped pacing around me and took a seat on the armrest of the couch. "We received information about the rape back in January-"

"RAPE?" My hands flew up to my mouth as if on instinct even in context, Mother and Father never really appreciated words of such nature in the house.

"Indeed. What labelled it a hate crime was the testimony of the offenders who kept repeating that, and I quote, 'they thought the little faggot liked sucking dick'." I was getting nauseas, this was just too much.

"But... If it wasn't in January, then when-"

"Nazz's party." I felt faint. "The offenders, football players, attended the local high school-"

"Peach Creek High..." My voice was barely more than a whisper.

"The very same." He paused. "Due to the usual updates on your everyday life Eddy sent every other month-" Yes, they travelled the world and beyond but above everything they loved to hear about the Rathink Avenue antics. "- We could pretty much figure out who the victim was."

"Who?" My mouth was drying out; never had I thought I'd be in such a surreal situation. Wait. There was- No, it couldn't- But I hadn't- Not since the party. There was only one person I had not seen around the Cul-de-Sac since the night of Nazz's party and I knew who it was before Max even opened his mouth.

"Jimmy." His confirmation made my entire world collapse. Jimmy, the young Jimmy who Eddy had trained into a young scammer, the young trickster, the young Jimmy who kept an eye on Ed whenever Eddy or I was unavailable... Raped by a group of-

"Air, I need air!" I rushed over to the window facing the lawn and our beloved Cul-de-Sac and pushed it open with violent force. I threw my head out and the familiar sensation of hyperventilation rushed over me.

"I'm really sorry I have to be the one to-"He stopped mid-sentence and before I knew it, he was standing on my right, looking out the window. "Double-D?"

"Y-yes?"

"Who is that woman?" He didn't point but I knew he was referring to Grace who had pulled up outside the garage and was parking her car; a black Mercedes.

"She- She's my sister, Grace Hammer." His whole body seemed to stiffen.

"Grace Hammer... Grace... Hammer; of course she's your sister..." He mumbled to himself. Quickly making his way to the kitchen and throwing one leg out the window, he pulled out his cell phone and made sure he saw me seeing him pointing to it. "I'm calling you right now." With that, he jumped out. I was extremely confused and the exact moment I heard my sister place her hand on the door knob, I felt my pocket vibrate and Beethoven's Fifth filled the room.

"Hey bro, I was just-"She looked around the hallway in search of me; just to be interrupted by my voice speaking into the phone.

"Eddward Hammer's telephone, this is Double-D."

"_Don't say my name out loud, it's me; your favorite Flywheel Max who just hopped out the kitchen window. Never thought I'd say that again. For the following questions, just answer yes or no. Understood?_"

"Yes." I threw Grace a glance and smiled apologetically.

"_Good. Is your sister there right now?_"

"Yes."

"_If you get the chance, ask her the following questions: Where she's been for the last year, what she's been doing, what her views are on the Smithsonian and lastly, if she's ever been to Detroit. Not neccessarily in that order; understood?_"

"Yes." It was getting rather one-sided.

"_I will send over Marie to keep you company for a while, she will tell you more. Now repeat after me 'If you have issues with your homework, I would love to help you, Marie._"

"If you have issues with your homework, I would love to help you, Marie." Grace quickly hid her natural reaction of disdain of Marie coming over.

"_You can come over in fifteen minutes; I just have to tidy up around here._"

"You can come over in fifteen minutes; I just have to tidy up around here."

"_Excellent. Don't forget; location, occupation, Smithsonian and Detroit_." What was- Did Max know my sister in some way?

"Of course not. I will see you, Ma... Rie, Marie."

"_Good work, Double-D. Oh, you should try to speak to Eddy soon. I'll come over later and tell you the rest!_" With that, he hung up. What the devil was going on here?


	3. Science Fiction Double Feature

**The Detest for the Con Artist: The Choices We Make. **Happy reading, whether it's just this chapter or the rest of the story.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Science Fiction Double Feature**

* * *

_**Day two: April 18, 2:05 P.M**_

* * *

"H-Hello, Marie." Max having resurfaced after over a year of absence left me with more questions than he had had time to answer before ducking out the window and the phone call... Well, it did nothing to quench my burning curiosity. _The Smithsonian Institute? Detroit? And the way he reacted to Grace's name, almost as if he knew her..._

The unrelenting questions pecking away were only trumped by the extreme nervousness this attractive young woman, holding a math and chemistry book under her arm, in front of me was causing.

"Nice to meet you again, Marie!" Grace, who had drilled me for the last ten minutes on Marie's intentions in this house, smiled politely and waved innocently.

"Yeah, hi." The blue-haired teen barely spared her a glance, instead looking from the stairs to me as if trying to convey a message.

"Well, Grace, we will be upstairs if you need us."

"Oh god no, you kids have fun! I'm going out for some unfinished business, I'll be gone for an hour or two."

In the case of normal families, those who aren't Hammers or Flywheels, the term 'unfinished business' would mean looking over a last minute proposal, some neglected paperwork or a deal that needs some details added before closing. In the case of the Hammers, my sister more specifically, 'unfinished business' truly meant 'you don't wanna know'.

Between my tenth and sixteenth birthday, I had the good honor of living in a house into which Grace had brought everything from dealerships (heroin, opium, marijuana plantations, meth labs, the list goes on...) to escaped convicts, plans of assassinations and bank robberies to, her favorite, military secrets. She had discovered a passion and talent for hacking before I was even eight and, without delving into too much detail, Pentagon had to look over their security systems before my fourteenth birthday.

"... Okay then. You... Do that."

"Indeed I will, indeed I shall!" She practically leaped off the couch and, grabbing her car keys and jacket, gave us one last look and wink before she left. "Don't forget protection now!" A smirk was all I saw before the door slammed shut behind her. Glancing over at Marie, I saw her sporting a shade of red that very well could've matched my own in that moment. I opened my mouth to begin a well-formed sentence that would've saved and calmed the whole situation but, as per usual, my brain, the whole system, became momentarily paralyzed in fear over the realization that... _Marie Kanker _and I were alone. In my house.

There has never been an exchange of single words more awkward than the one that followed.

"Yeah..."

"Well..."

"Uhm..."

"So..."

"Yeah..."

"Let us?"

"What?"

"Upstairs?"

"Uhm, sure..." It was truly a remarkable sight; to see a Kanker be at such a loss of words and action was something that only happened every other millennia, if you were really lucky that is.

"Oh, you first; I insist." Initially thrown off by my attempt at chivalrous politeness, that infamous smirk that made Marie a fierce fox to begin with turned on like a light bulb.

"I know what's going on here." Confusion found me, what was she talking about?

"You just wanna stare at my ass." As I would later learn, there are times when, in the middle of a conversation, you really don't want to be eating something if you value your life. At this moment, I wasn't, but the way I was spluttering, you would think there was at least a vegetarian spring roll stuck in the tracheal area hazarding my life.

"Pardon?!"

"Don't give me that pardon-act! You- You really are something! This whole gentlemanly Oxford thing you got going on is really just a front for a real big pervert!"

"I- I- I-" Was at a serious loss of words. I could very well tell that she wasn't... _That _serious, but just to be accused of such a thing was certainly... Well, _just preposterous!_ She just shushed me and placed a finger on my lips.

"Don't worry, Sweetie; you don't have to pretend anymore. I don't mind having you stare at my ass."

"..." While she winked and spun around, practically swiveling up those stairs, I was left with a heated, blushed face, a new, unknown sensation of warmth in the lower intestinal area and eyes that tried to look in every direction but... Good grief... _But _the one mentioned previously.

"So... What's up with Flywheel?" Once I had mustered up enough courage to even climb the stairs, she shouted out the question from my room; having found it with such ease it made me start to wonder if perhaps she had been in this house before...

"If the Flywheel you're referring to is Max-"

"Yeah."

"I honestly have-" I lost my words and froze in the door opening. Parts of me had of course been considering that Marie's reformed character was nothing more than an elaborate ruse, an act that, Max having acted his part in and helped her to this moment, culminateing in her laying stark naked on my bed in another attempt to seduce me.

"Hmm?" The only part right in that paranoid delusion was the fact that she was lighter dressed than she had been downstairs; she had flung her black hoodie over my computer chair, dumped the books next to the keyboard and was currently occupied with browsing through my book shelves with, what seemed like, great interest. "What you say?"

"Ehrr... I don't know..."

"You dont know what you said?" First then did she look back at me, tearing her attention away from the copy of '_The Hobbit_' lying open in her hands.

"No... No, I meant; I don't know what Max is up to. He appeared out of nowhere as I ventured home from school and once we got back here, he began telling me what he had been up to..." Nausea washed over me again. Right; Jimmy. "And as soon as Grace pulled up in the driveway, he jumped out the kitchen window and called me only seconds later, informing me that he was to send you over to study."

"That boy should seek help." She gently slid the book back into its place, right between '_The Return of the King_' and '_The Metamor__phosis_' in its original German, and turned to face me, arms crossed.

"Oh, I hardly think he's in more need of help than any of the other inhabitants of this Cul-de-Sac."

"I'd sure like a second opinion on that." The small smile that played on her lips conveyed a contradictory opinion though. "Anyway, I guess I know what he made off to after heading out your window."

"Do tell."

"I'd gotten outta the shower, about to throw some clothes on, when I hear something tapping on the window. Wouldn't you think what I see is his idiot face, upside-down?"

"_Upside-down?_"

"He climbed our trailer, hanging down from the roof!" ... Of course, why make it easy for himself?

"Oh, Max..."

"So, I throw open the window, making damn sure to hit him right in that stupid grin to hear what-"

"Pardon the interruption, but did you at least have time to put on some clothes?" The thought of Max getting to see Marie at her most private... I'm not going to lie, it raised more jealousy in me than I had anticipated. Some other feelings at the thought of Marie in private but let's leave those unsaid.

"I had my towel on, it was cool." She paused, studying me for a moment before smirking. "Why, you jealous?"

"N-no, no; I'm just trying to envision the absurdity of the situation in front of me." She knew me too well for my own good. "I mean, you and Max having a conversation through your window; him upside-down, you wearing a towel..."

"Suuure, Double-D, sure." She winked at me and as my face heated up for what felt like the seventeenth time that day, I realized that she had used my designated nick-name and not called me by some obscure kitchen appliance. "Anyway, after he got over the shock of seeing me with nothing more than a soft cotton towel to cover up the good parts..."

Well, now she was just hellbent on messing with me; not without result I might add. Ever since hormones started to nest here in the Cul-de-Sac, I have been somewhat... Overly pervious to any sort of visible stimuli. I can, as the most embarrassing example, mention the time Eddy found it wise to replace 'The Acidic Kool-Aid Test' (a B-monster movie from the mid-60s', "biggest product placement flick ever made" to quote Roger Ebert) with the similarly titled... _*sigh* _'The Acidic Cooch-Aid Tits'. The present day remake, I might add. I never imagined one could finish a movie so scarred yet so aroused.

Oh, and if we're mentioning the infernal embarrassment that puberty brings; as if Physical Education wasn't painful enough without having to see Nazz skip around the fields in a non-supportive brassiere.

"Hmm, hmm." She almost slid down into a seated position on the bed, a victorious smirk clad her face. I, on the other hand, slumped down into the computer chair, held my head in my hands and sighed. I was never going to win this round; Eddy McGee and Victoria Secret's sport selection had made damn sure of that.

* * *

_"You know I got a phone, right? I got a door too."_

_"Oh, Marie; no, just no. Now! I got a quest that I would be eternally grateful for you to finish within... Nine minutes ago?! Spencer's gonna kill me!"_

_"What's in it for me, Flywheel?"_

_"This be the case; you get yourself into some clothes, love the towel by the by, grab whatever homework you're currently neglecting and get over to Double-D's place!"_

_"Wait, what?"_

_"I don't have time to talk slower, woman! Get into some-"_

_"I heard that but... Get over to Double-D's?"_

_"I thought you said you heard it!"_

_"He knows I'm coming over?"_

_"Yes!"_

_"To his house?"_

_"No, to his ski lodge in Aspen! You heard me right, all along the way!"_

_"But... Why?"_

_"I'll meet up with Spence, get my ass kicked for tardiness, do some fly shit and come on over to explain it all! So, in about... Holy shit, I'm a dead man walking."_

_"The hell are you-"_

"_Hey, I recon him!"_

"_It's that cute Max Flywheel!"_

"_I stand corrected; I'm a dead man running."_

* * *

"He did some ridiculous acrobatic jump off of the roof and hit the ground running; Lee and May never had a chance." Well, that did indeed sound like the Max Flywheel I knew; mysterious and athletic in all the strange ways.

"So... He spends an unknown period of time with his sister before coming over here?"

"That's as much as I got, yeah."

"That's quite vague, especially coming from him; it could be anything from five minutes ago to Tuesday afternoon before he actually decide to visit." That was the biggest problem with all the Flywheels, especially Max; they had absolutely no concept of punctuality. If they said they would show up for lunch, the question that remained was not what to eat; it was for _which _lunch they would show up for. I still remember so many classes they showed up for that they didn't actually have, all in the belief that it was Thursday last week.

"Yeah..."

"Indeed." We fell into a bit of a silence; I was trying hard to block out any thoughts surrounding Max's story. Could it... Could it be the truth? That Jimmy, the neighborhood's personification of bad luck and accidents as a child, had been so abruptly robbed of his innocence in such a horrendous and inhuman manner?

"So what you wanna do? You know, Friday and all, I don't really feel like homework." I shook my head, a habit I picked up from Ed which helps to clear unwanted thoughts, and spun the chair away from the desk where I had been staring at her books and focused my gaze on her. I felt... Almost empty, the thirst for knowledge far down on my list of priorities.

"I have to agree with you there, Marie." The thing was, there wasn't that much to do at my house. The reason we spent so much time at the Firefly or McGee residences was because Ed had an extensive collection of game platforms, antique as brand new, and Mr. McGee had made sure that he could watch the Irish soccer team's every game in high resolution on 60 inches of matte black electronic wonder. Our own television, while only 18 inches smaller, was only ever sufficient when Mr. McGee's cheering was either so loud that normal conversation volume was near impossible or when the luck of the Irish ran out and he started swearing about 'sissy-pants leprechauns who couldn't kick a ball if their mother's maiden name depended on it'. I paraphrased and censored that quote severely. "I also have to admit that there is not really a lot to do around this house, except perhaps partake in the watching of television or a cinematic feature."

"Why, Britannica, are you suggesting we watch a movie together?" A bit surprised, and starting to think that I had seriously underestimated what she knew and didn't, I pushed myself up from the chair.

"I suppose that was the message I was trying to convey."

"Just... The two of us?" She stood up as well, taking an... Almost _seductive _step towards me._  
_

"I... Suppose that as well."

"All... Curled up on the couch?" Another not-so-innocent step.

"Well, not neces-"

"So close that one of our hands _might _touch and... There's suddenly a spark? Something new that neither of us ever felt before? Is that the kind of movie you're suggesting... Double-D?" A few confident steps, she was standing in front of me. Though I was easily a head taller than her, it felt like our faces were completely leveled with each other. All kinds of warning bells and whistles, including the frazzled voice of Ed screaming bloody murder about brain slugs, were going off in my head but... I didn't really notice. _This _was certainly something new that I had never felt before; a... Positive sort of comfort of being so close to her. Almost as if I... _Liked _it.

"Ehr... Perhaps..." Her face split in a wide grin before bursting out laughing; the same truly joyous laughter I had heard for the first time the day before. Patting me on the shoulder, she grabbed her hoodie and threw it over her shoulder.

"I'm just messing with you, Double-D; you gotta relax a little. I already told you, I'm not gonna do anything." With that, she left the room, snickering to herself; leaving me with some very confusing thoughts. Was it... Disappointment? Yes, yes, it would certainly seem so.

'_But over what?_'

'_Here you go, man, a lovely little Rorschach!_' Whatever little voice in charge of the cerebrum, who I can say sounded an awful lot like a certain Flywheel, suddenly made an image appear in my mind; an ink blot on a paper that to me looked an awful lot like...

...

Marie and I kissing.

What?

"Hey, if you're gonna sit around and mope in your room about it, I guess you can at least fondle my tits." I was in for a long and terribly confusing night.

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 4:46 A.M.**_

* * *

Fourteen hours later, I woke up in my living room, on my couch, fully dressed. That was only the fourth oddest thing in that moment; the third being that I didn't feel the need to have something of a fit about sleeping in my clothes and the second being that Marie was holding me so tight, she could only be described as being snuggled up _into _me.

The oddest thing of all was that at the sight of her, I felt happier than I had in years.

So what had happened during the Friday night? After deciding that waiting for Max was like walking into Mordor (oh, I have always been quite a fan of the Tolkien mythology but only after hearing Eddy use the phrase is it something I started to parable to), I followed her downstairs where she was already inspecting our extended DVD-collection. Having already pulled out a couple of cases, including the Lord of the Ring trilogy which made the warm feeling in my stomach even warmer, she inspected one that I myself had not seen; The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

While I have never cringed my way through a second act of a movie to that degree, it was worth it seeing Marie singing along with the opening titles by the second chorus.

Then, after a quick debate about dinner and such, she asked me to pick the first childhood favorite I could spot and the luck fell on Gene Wilder in 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. While her heart melted at the sheer hopeful beauty that was 'Pure Imagination', those were her actual words, she did have a bit of a freak out and attempted to throw every piece of furniture at the television when the Oompa-Loompahs made their entrance.

After whipping together a quick dinner and eating it in front of an old Seinfeld rerun, I made us some popcorn while she picked out 'Gone With the Wind' and... That's how I ended up leaning her into my embrace when I became convinced that I wasn't seeing things; she was actually crying.

I was unable to focus on the masterpiece of a movie after that, finding myself stroking her hair in a subconscious attempt to comfort her. And I was very confused over the whole situation because... Our hands _did _touch at one point, not on purpose but during a shifting of positions, barely for a second but it was more than enough to send an electric discharge down my spine and back up. So she had been both right and wrong; I did get a spark from a simple touch of her hand but I was certainly feeling a lot more than just one new emotion afterwards.

We must have fallen asleep about halfway through 'Singin' in the Rain' because I do not remember anything after Donald O'Connor actually made us laugh sleepily a few times.

And so now, it was about ten to five and I was more awake than ever, thoughts once again racing around. It was then I remembered another aspect of the previous night; my phone had made some serious noise. Meaning, someone or a group of someones had been terribly eager to reach me without success. So, not in any rush or mood to wake the snoozing source of my peculiar emotions, I quickly fished the phone out of my picket and woke it up.

Fifteen text messages. In one night. I can consider myself lucky if I receive that many in a week. Going by respective writer, I began with the four Eddy had penned.

**_DoubleD, got 2 tlk, can we meet?_**

... At least he had the decency to use a question mark.

**_Is reallly inportant mann!_**

He had been awfully considerate; usually when he had a problem, he would just barge in unannounced and start a long tirade of complaints without any consideration to my activities.

**_Im comming over there now!_**

Wait, he hadn't...?

**_Stopped by nd found you SLEEPING ON THE COUHCH WIT MARIEE KANKER! WHAT IZ GONG ON?_**

The heavy hammer of guilt struck me instantly; not only had I failed to be there as advice for one of my two oldest friends, I had also neglected to tell him about this new development of friendship with myself and Marie. I made a reminder to call him later, as he would certainly not wake up for another six or seven hours; seeing how it was Saturday and all. Then... There were two from Ed.

**_SAY UNCLE DOUBLE-D!_**

What the-?

**_I AM HAPPY ONCE MORE DOUBLE-D!_**

I'm not going to pretend that I have ever really known how to interpret Ed's texting skills so I quickly moved on to the on from my sister.

**_Hey little bro', work is taking a lot longer than I expected, probably won't be home until tomorrow night, some leftovers in the fridge, use protection!_**

It seemed while all I did those days was blush, all Grace did was to be certain that Marie and I were, in one way or another, going to have sexual intercourse before the night was over. But at least that meant she wouldn't be home until nightfall, relieving me of the awkward conversation in which I explained why she came home to find Marie and I sleeping in each other's arms.

**_Double-D! This is very important! Meet me at the late night double-feature picture show in fifteen minutes!_**

As I began reading the first of Max's eight texts, I noted the amusing coincidence concerning his use of the term 'late night double-feature picture show' for the local cinema; a direct quote from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show's opening number, 'Science Fiction Double Feature'. Of course, as I've said and will continue to say, coincidences are something I know no longer exist in my life.

**_My bad, my bad, I'm buying by the way!_**

This was quite unfortunate; he really had been expecting me to show up...

**_Dear Double-D, there's a tub of popcorn waiting for you!_**

The waves of guilt rushed over me again; that made it two of my friends who had turned to me in a time of need (though Eddy's certainly seemed more urgent) and I had been with... Marie.

**_Friend! I am enjoying using your seat as a place to store both of our popcorn tubs but it's getting rather lonely..._**

That was odd. The feelings of guilt almost... Disappeared at the thought; instead enforcing the warm feeling I had been experiencing in the pit of my stomach since Marie rang the door bell sixteen hours previous.

**_I... Should I call you?_**

To say I was perplexed was putting it mildly; the blushing was just a natural to embarrassment I experienced whenever... Well, subjects such as sex came up, but this warm sensation was something I had only known once before.

**_Am I crazy here for talking to myself apparently?_**

Whenever I spoke to Nazz back when we were still in Junior High School.

**_So... The movie was great... But I have about fifteen minutes before I gotta get back! I'm gonna call you in five minutes to tell you everything, whether you like it or not!_**

But... Could that mean...?

...

No- It just, it couldn't be.

**_Sorry... I just realized, you're probably doing something with Marie right now... I sincerely hope I didn't interrupt anything with my delusional ranting. As a matter of fact, I'll show up tomorrow with breakfast and I'll tell you the rest of the story. Don't forget: Use protection!_**

My mind had completely floated away after Max's third text but there was something in that last message that caught my attention; _**tomorrow with breakfast.**_**  
**

Tomorrow meant today. Breakfast meant morning. Morning meant a time span of approximately eight hours set between 4 A.M. and 12 P.M. Max Flywheel meant unpredictability. It was now five to five in the morning. Ergo, '_**tomorrow with**** breakfast**_' meant '_**Max will show up today before**_** _lunch'_**

... I was in dire need of coffee.

Stretching as much as I could without disturbing Marie; I noticed the first shimmer of sunlight playing on the wall, next to the television. Oh, how I shall miss them; those solitary moments when the world seems still, barely a breeze audible, and that majestic sun slowly rises from below the horizon with a multitude of colors that could rival the ones of a rainbow. Within the boundaries of my memory, I had left this, my home and city, perhaps a dozen times but never had I seen anything like a Peach Creek sunrise. And... Why not share that moment, that morning, with my newly reformed friend?

"I'd stop doing that if I wanted to keep my hand..." I softly graced her arm and received that as a response. I could only roll my eyes; she was obviously not a morning person.

"Marie..." I whispered softly. She barely stirred so I tried again, closer to a normal speaking tone this time. "Marie..." Slowly, her eyes opened and she blinked groggily a few times before yawning violently and stretching out.

"Morning, Bill..." An eyebrow was raised.

"Bill?"

"Sorry; _Pudding Pop_..." I quickly looked away; it suddenly felt like that warm feeling, that I can't seem to keep quiet about, formed a lasso and tugged on something within me when she shifted and turned her head so that those sleepy azure eyes peered directly at me, accompanied by a small smile.

"Uhm... Yes. Now, normally, I wouldn't even decide to wake up this early myself, especially not on a Saturday."

"What-" She stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of the hoodie. "What time is it?"

"Oh, around five." She slowly dropped her arm and stared at me in a mixture of shock and amazement.

"In the _morning_?!"

"Yes." Blinking twice, she quickly pushed off me and threw herself against the other side of the couch; my body feeling lighter than ever.

"Wake me up when the clock ain't southeast of the border." I couldn't help but yawn myself; apart from a few occasions where Ed and Eddy talked me into it, I never operated on less than nine healthy hours of sleep. Slowly rising from the couch, I stretched out properly and smiled when I saw Marie, who seemed obviously content with us staying asleep on the couch, quickly shut her eyes.

"Actually, I woke you up at this abysmal hour to show you something."

"Not interested." She mumbled, snuggling closer to the pillow she was attempting to smother. I never thought I would experience jealousy towards one of Mother's many impulse purchases to make this house of ours a home. Wait, did I just insinuate that I... Would like to be in the place of that pillow?

"It's quite a beautiful thing."

"So's the inside of my eyelids." I sighed softly; the Kanker stubbornness, while not directed towards the end goal of getting into another person's pants, was always a pain. So I decided to try the one method that had worked before.

"Very well then, I wish you a pleasant sleep." I gathered together my belongings, my own hooded sweatshirt and cellphone, and walked off without sparing her a glance. Halfway to the stairs, there was a sound of shuffling behind me (the non-party rocking kind)

"Where you going?"

"Upstairs."

"... Is that where the thing is?"

"It is." Silence.

"Aight. Night."

"Sleep well." I quickly made my way up the stairs; eager not to miss a moment of the natural spectacle, with or without Marie. Pulling down the ladder located in the middle of the ceiling, second floor hallway, I could hear a loud groan from downstairs that instantly made me smile.

Technically and theoretically, our house didn't and couldn't have an attic, mostly since we had a basement but also because the blueprints showed that there was nothing but roof over the ceiling of the entire second floor. So imagine my surprise when, you should be able to guess when this happened, Ed crashed through the roof during an enormous slingshot scam and basically found a third floor never noticed.

With a bit of ingenuity, and an awful lot of our En-O-Gee drinks that made a popular comeback that summer, I turned the previously unknown floor space into a study; a place where I could theorize about experiments in a calm and safe environment or just gaze out over the Cul-de-Sac and reminisce.

Apart from my room, that is where I liked to spend most of my times; on the platform that protruded from the roof, serving as a balcony of sorts. Punching in the seven-digit code and watching the bullet-proof glass doors slide apart (you could only imagine the face of the man in the store when the meager fourteen-year old and asked for that), I took a step outside and breathed in the brisk morning air.

It was like stepping into another world.

The early sun showered the whole community with its rays; bouncing off the light morning frost on the trees giving me the view of a forest of silver, a blinding light coming from the junkyard and trailer park where every empty can and antenna acted as a reflector, shimmering on the surface of the creek, reaching all the way back to the mountains that surrounded the South side of Peach Creek.

The sight was breathtaking and the silence was deafening; not even the birds dared disturb this scene. You could be absolutely cliche and drop a pin and hear it echo over the whole Cul-de-Sac. Or, in my case, the sock-clad feet of Marie Kanker.

She stepped out next to me, as that was about the amount of space there was on that balcony, and stood there silent; most likely taking in the entire view. I felt the need to say... Something but I knew I didn't possess the necessary mastery of the English language to describe or emphasize it. So instead, I too just stood there, silent; thinking back to the past and how much we had changed since then. When every day was a constant chase for jawbreakers, every hour another idea popping into Eddy's head on how to, every moment a feeling of pure bliss because we were free in a way we never would be again. We could do what we wanted, whenever we wanted, however we wanted. And we did.

Look at us now.

...

The thing that astonished me the most, aside from just how little the Cul-de-Sac had changed since then, was that everything back then had led me to this moment, standing next to Marie as a friend. Something I could never even dream of happening.

"Double-D..." The thickness of her voice surprised me; was she really that touched by the view.

"Yes, Marie?" She tore her gaze and looked up at me through her unruly blue hair, causing the pulling sensation in my stomach to turn into a gathering of butterflies.

"It's... more than beautiful, it's... Beyond this fucking world. Thank you." Her arms snaked around my waist and she leaned her head against my chest, sighing softly. I returned the gesture, took a deep breath to calm the knot tying butterflies and there they were again; the otherworldly strawberries.

"What for?"

"Forgiving me, friend." The past two days flashed before my eyes; my first hug with Marie, reuniting with Grace, Marie teasing me, Max returning to catch me up on things, Marie in a towel, comforting Marie while Clark Gable did his thing, the Rorschach.

...

Especially the Rorschach.

I pulled away gently and was quick to take her left hand in mine, her eyes widening as she looked down at our linking hands before looking back up.

"Double-D, what-" She stopped herself when I slowly stroked away a lone tear travelling down her cheek and pushed a strand of hair behind her left ear. And, without thinking, I followed the psychiatrist's advice.

I kissed her.

It was slow and only for a moment before I leaned back to see her reaction. Her half-dazed gaze seemed to be in an uproar, going all over the emotional spectrum.

"Oh..." She raised a shaky hand and hesitated before placing it across my collarbone, caressing my shoulder. "So..."

"I think so..." A snicker escaped her lips and she looked down at her shuffling feet before smiling up at me, happier than I had ever seen her.

I leaned in again before she had a chance to open her mouth, instead responding to the tender display of affection this time. My hand not linked with hers began running circles around her back while hers snaked around my neck and up, in under my beanie.

If there is a place to end this story, this would be it. For this moment was nothing less than perfect; the emotionally compatible youngsters, drenched in the dawning sunlight, their hands linked together which marked the beginning of a beautiful bond that would stretch across time and space forever, never stopping, never ending, never faltering. A fire that would never stop burning, a glacier that would never melt, a source of energy that would never empty out. The early stages of love was blossoming to a backdrop beyond this _fucking _world and there was nothing that could destroy it, nothing could defeat it.

Life was good for once. Hakuna matata, until the end of existence.

Or until something vibrated in my jeans pocket.


	4. That's Just The Way It Is

**A/N:** This is the very last author note for this story because I have only this to say about the story:  
'It Comes Down To The Choices We Make' and 'The Detest For The Con Artist: The Choices We Make' are entwined more than ever so in the end, you have to read both to get it. Why I have only written four chapters in two years is also very simple; a very complicated private life and the fact that 'It Comes Down' and 'The Detest' gets updated together which basically means that Chapter 5 of this story won't come out before Chapter 4 of 'The Detest' has been released. That is how much the stories entwine.

On the last note, I thank each and every one of you who has read this story, you are all fantastic. If you've been following it from the beginning, you are fantastically marvelous and if you have patience and follow this story to the very end, you have my eternal gratitude. Have a good day and I wish you happy reading.

* * *

**Chapter 4 – ****That's Just The Way It Is**

* * *

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good and own everything in this story except for anything associated with the Ed, Edd n Eddy franchise.

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 5:13 A.M.**_

* * *

At first, I thought I should ignore it. Which I did of course, I'm not a fool. But then, I started to think. What if it was something important? It was five in the morning; it could only be something important then. When I found myself focusing more on the text than kissing Marie I groaned inwardly and slowly pulled away from her.

"Wow..." She slowly opened her eyes as if waking up from a trance. I was, however, staring intensely around the Cul-de-Sac, trying to find the author of the text. "What?" She looked in confusion at me. "Wasn't it good?"

"No-"Bam. I was on the floor, holding my cheek. "OW! Why the devil did you slap me? Have you gone mad woman?"

"You said it wasn't good!"

"It was, it was good!"

"Then why'd you say no?"

"I wasn't finished! I was going to say 'No, it's not that'!" I held out my cell phone so she could read the text.

_**Oi, lovebirds! Engage in PDA all you want but it's breakfast time! Meet me by the playground in five!**_

"Oh, I'm going to kill that jackass..." She mumbled, eyes zooming across the Cul-de-Sac.

"Why?"

"He interrupted our make out session!"

"Afraid it's the last one?" Dear lord, had I really lost it? Or does the teasing come automatically after a hot and heavy make out session?

"Yeah, I am 'cause- Wait, you wanna do this again?"

"Yes! I mean no! I mean of course! I mean- Please refrain from striking me again!" I held up my arms to shield my face only to realize that the rest of my body was unprotected.

"Oh you little..." I really thought my days were counted for. I closed my eyes and waited for the final blow when she lowered my arms. Instead a fist to the face, she kissed me. Hard and with passion. Caught completely off guard, it took me a few moments to start kissing her back. I softly rubbed her back with my right hand while the left traveled further and further down. That is until I got another text.

"We should go, that's Max texting again." She didn't take it well when I pulled back and she took that news even worse.

"YOU ARE A DEAD MAN MAX FLYWHEEL!"

_**Balcony sex is overrated kids!**_

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 5:21 A.M.**_

* * *

We walked over to the playground, my arm around her shoulders. It felt natural in a way and to think that a mere 48 hours earlier, I would've run the other way at the mere glimpse of her and not have stopped until I had developed chronic lung problems. Life is funny that way.

'_Every human being makes choices that affect their lives, sometimes to the better and sometimes to the worse._' My own words rang in my head. It was true. I had made the choice to forgive Marie for years of torment and now... I was happy. I was happy with her. Who would've thought?

"Morning lovebirds!" I had completely zoned out for a good while because all of the sudden, Max Flywheel was sitting on the swing set in front of us with a Starbucks bag in his hand and sunglasses on. "Got breakfast for you!"

"There'd better be damn good reason you're dragging us out here Flywheel!" Marie left my side and took a threatening step towards the young man who flinched.

"There is as a matter of fact." That, Marie wasn't prepared for. "Won't you sit down?" He motioned towards the other swing. I stood there, waiting for Marie to sit down but she just looked from the swing to me.

"Yes...?" I didn't really understand what she wanted, was she going to stand...?

"Double-D, she wants you to sit down." Max dropped his option and Marie rolled her eyes. Confused, I walked over and sat down on the swing. Marie then walked over to me and sat down on my lap while I started to blush furiously. "There, ain't that better?" He flashed us a grin and extended the bag towards us. "Double-D, latte without sugar and Marie, black with sugar." How he knew our preferred coffee habits scared me a little.

"How did you-"

"Wild guess?" Marie and I both raised an eyebrow. "The time before last I was here, I had coffee with you two at separate times. Remembered it from then." Wait, what?

"You had coffee with Max?" I looked up at Marie who actually blushed.

"She needed some advice on a couple of things." They both shared a glance of silent agreement that I couldn't decipher properly.

"So, why are we here?" She took the lid off of the mug and blew cautiously on the beverage. By Tesla she's cute.

"Well, there's a very-"

"Everything is forgiven." Out of the same bag, she pulled out a muffin size XXXL. Apparently, there was one for me too but since I was holding onto the latte with my right hand and holding onto Marie with my left arm, I left it for later.

"That was the plan!" He grinned widely at first but the wide smile disappeared quickly, replaced with a grim sigh. "It's been a rough night."

"Too much to drink?" Marie was never subtle.

"I wish..." He buried his face in his hands and groaned. "Everything went to hell, they knew we were coming." He wasn't really speaking with us; it was more like he replayed last night's events to himself.

"Who knew?"

"Your sister." Marie stiffened; what had he done with May or Lee? But then he surprised us by looking up at me.

"_My _sister? _Grace_?"

"Yes, Grace." What in the name of Franklin D. Roosevelt had he done? "But that's not what I'm here to talk about." He took off his sunglasses and Marie gasped. I too was surprised; the otherwise clean cut face of Max Flywheel was sporting an impressive black eye. When I looked closer, I saw some minor cuts and what looked like...

"You got _stitches_?" Marie beat me to the punch but she was ever so correct; across his forehead there was a three inches long scar stitched up.

"I can tell you right now that I will not talk about what I did after the movies last night. I will however finish the story from before and answer whatever questions you might have." This was getting curiouser and curiouser by the second.

"Why won't you tell us about-"

"Some minor complications, nothing you need to know."

"But-"

"Trust me on this; you are safer if you don't know anything about this." For the first time, I realized that there was more to Max Flywheel that met the eye. Gone was the charming and joking demeanor, in front of us was instead a young man with serious business on his mind.

"Okay... Continue the story from where we left off then..."

"Right... Jimmy." My stomach tied up at the mention of his name. '_Poor Jimmy..._'

"Jimmy? What with?" Marie looked from me to Max in confusion.

"Well, he..." I couldn't bear myself to say it, it was still unbelievable.

"He was raped." Max otherwise joyful blue eyes had lost its glimmer and were now staring lifelessly into thin air.

"What?"

"Seven months ago at a party at Nazz's house, he was raped." I turned my head; I couldn't bear to look at Max sitting there so serious and hear this.

"Really?" I can only imagine that he nodded. "Holy shit... I liked that kid..." So did I, so did I.

"Who didn't? He hadn't done anything wrong." He paused for a moment, thinking over things. I was suddenly very aware of the mug in my right hand and focused all of my attention on it. "Anyhow, Spencer and I deduced that it was Jimmy who had been raped which made us drop everything down there in Rio and get back up here to Peach Creek. We decided to find Jimmy, for reasons I can't yet tell you-"Marie closed her mouth again. "So, who better to ask than Sarah?"

"Sarah..." Just then, I remembered something. It all fit. "She left to live with her aunt and uncle three months ago."

"That's what we found out too. So, we travelled up to the Montana border to see her. She had however not seen Jimmy since the party where he disappeared in the middle of the evening. But, we got another problem on our hands when we met Sarah."

"What was the problem?" My mouth started to feel really dry so I took a sip of coffee, Marie copied my motion.

"She was preggers." It felt like a silent movie from the twenties, Marie and I both did a spit take worthy Charlie Chaplin.

"She _what_?"

"_Pardon_?"

"Yep, turned out that she had gotten lucky at that party but didn't use a condom." He casually took a mouthful of his own coffee. "Man, that party sure turned out to be a bad idea."

"Excuse me, could we go back to the part where Sarah's _pregnant_?" This was too much for one man to find out in less than 24 hours.

"Well... She's pregnant?" Max offered insecurely.

"Is she keeping it?" Marie spoke up.

"As far as we know, yes."

"But that was... Three months ago, right?" She looked at him for confirmation which she got in the form of a nod. "So what the hell have you been doing up until now?" My ability to speak had been washed away with the innocence of my childhood friends.

"If you have ever met or even heard of Ed's parents, you'd understand. They'd go on an all-out manhunt to find the bastard who knocked her up. And the shit she'd get? You better believe she'd be shipped overseas!"

"Who's the dad?" We all took another sip; me to try to wash down the sandbox that was my mouth, Marie to finish her mug and Max for dramatic effect.

"Can't say. All I can say is that Sarah's back here in Peach Creek until the baby pops out. Then she can get back to her usual life."

"What about the kid?"

"Aunt and uncle will raise it like their own."

"Doesn't the father get a say in this?"

"Partially why we're back here, to inform the dad." Here, Marie turned and glared at me. "It's not Double-D."

"What?" I looked up at the mention of my name; the ability to speak had returned as if a miracle.

"Nothing, nothing." She kissed my hat covered head and smiled. I offered her a weak smile before focusing on the mug again.

"So, any other questions?" He glanced at his wrist watch and scratched the back of his head.

"You going somewhere?" Marie was clearly speaking for the both of us, I on the other hand felt like I was going to be sick.

'_Jimmy... raped... Sarah... Pregnant..._' I felt my childhood slipping out of my grasp faster and faster.

"Meeting up with Spencer for coffee, got some work to do."

"What's really the deal with the two of you though? You fly around the country and then act like some sort of government agents about all of this. What's the deal?" I looked up again, this I wanted to hear, the Flywheels had always been mysterious about their travels and business but never had we found out why.

"... I honestly can't say." He looked down at his watch again and groaned. "Damn it, I'm late." He got up off of the swing. "All I can say is this; we are friends. Trust me, we would never mean you any harm. However-"Here, he turned to me. "I need you to keep an eye on that sister of yours. By the way, did you remember to ask her?"

"I didn't get a chance." My voice was so monotone, I surprised myself a little.

"Just remember; location during the last year, occupation, views on the Smithsonian and if she's been to Detroit."

"Right." My head felt really heavy all of the sudden, Marie turned to lead in my lap.

"Marie, look after him."

"Will do Flywheel."

"And hey, congratulations you two. We could really use some innocent love nowadays." And with that, he put on the sunglasses, turned around and walked away. We sat there in silence for a moment before Mare shook her head.

"Shit... Sarah's preggers? Jimmy was _raped_? And what was the deal with your sister?" That was the breaking point for me; I pushed Marie off of me.

"So sorry." Was all I could get out before I reached the nearest trash can and vomited up everything I had consumed in the last 12 hours.


	5. The Curious Case of Grace Hammer

**Chapter 5 – The Curious Case of Grace Hammer**

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Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good and own everything in this story except for anything associated with the Ed, Edd n Eddy franchise or the city of San Francisco.

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 5:57 A.M.**_

* * *

"My childhood... It's dying..." I was on my back in the grass next to the playground. I had collapsed there after emptying my stomach's contents more than once in a nearby trashcan. Marie was lying next to me, rubbing small circles with her thumb on the back of my hand as she held it.

"Time." She hadn't said a word since Max had left and her sudden breaking of the silence surprised me to the point of startling me; I was so focused on my past's decay I had completely forgotten that I wasn't alone.

* * *

If I could pause for a moment, I would like to just share a few thoughts with you if you would do me the honors.

The word that best describe this horrible tale is of course 'choice'. However, that word, that was the beginning of one of the most life changing lectures I've ever had, is the second best word that can describe these past 17 days. Time. Time is everything, time is eternity and time is the universe. I'm not talking about that clock on your wall, on your wrist, on your cell phone or iPod but the flow of time that allows us to exist. What moves us forward in life instead of backwards.

For example, most people define time as seconds, minutes, hours, days and so forth. But it's so much more than that because a second is just a human invention. It's a concept invented to measure and understand time. Those concepts didn't exist before us and they probably won't exist after us. So for me, now, time is just time. And if not choice, then this story is about just that. Time.

* * *

"W-What?"

"Time is fun that way. Selfish. Goes on without giving the rest of us any thought. The trick is to keep up with it the best you can." Marie Kanker. If you were to have asked me ten years ago what I thought of her, I would've answered that her hair fascinated me. If you had asked me six years ago, I would've answered that she was a pre-pubescent girl with confused feelings and an unhealthy obsession with me. If you were to have asked me three weeks ago, I probably would've looked both ways before giving my terrified opinion. At that moment though, I you would've asked me at that very moment what I thought of Marie Kanker, I would've written poems, praising her beauty, her intellect and her incredible personality for a smaller eternity.

"Wow..." The world was spinning in front of my eyes and I could only assume that I was severely dehydrated at this point. I turned my head and focused my gaze on her with my eye lids half-closed; I could almost feel the glassy look that must've taken over.

"It's just one of the three things that are certain in life. Death, taxes and the flow of time. The rest is just temporary." She squeezed my hand. "What you gotta do is try to accept it and move forth. Keep calm and move on."

* * *

After that, she carried me home because I was clearly in no state to get home on my own without collapsing. In the seventeen minutes between hoisting me over her shoulder and finding me asleep on the floor next to my bed, I managed to make quite a fool out of myself. I have absolutely no memory of what happened after she threw me over her shoulder. She, however, had a blast reciting aloud a list of her ten favorite 'Drunk Double-D Moments' three days later at a café.

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:16 A.M.**_

_10. You stumble over to the freezer in order to find fish filet and only manage to trip over yourself twice. Once in there you only find microwave pizza and pout adorably._

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:05 A.M.**_

_9. You struggle to get your shoes off and when you tumble over, you look at me, call on your mommy and point to your shoes with an adorable pout._

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:17 A.M.**_

_8. You suddenly decide that we should get some pizza. And since pizza should always be 100% Italian, you run up to your room to get money from under your bed for the plane tickets._

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:09 A.M.**_

_7. You come out from the bathroom with a toothbrush in your mouth, giving me a three minute lecture on why dental hygiene is important that ends with you asking me if I've seen your toothbrush._

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:15 A.M.**_

_6. You announce that you're about to go HAM, pull off your shirt and start dancing on the living room coffee table. Without any music on._

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:15 A.M.**_

_5. I tell you what you just did and you reply "Girlfriend, that shit cray!"_

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:12 A.M.**_

_4. You attempt to kiss me and end up shoving the toothbrush up my nose._

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:04 A.M.**_

_3. I reach into your pants pocket to find your keys and you go "A little further to the right, you're holding my keys right now..."_

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:01 A.M.**_

_2. You slap my ass and start mumbling the lyrics to "My Humps"._

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 6:18 A.M.**_

_1. You mumble in your sleep that your deepest regret is not realizing how much of a queen I am._

* * *

I just found the list in my jacket pocket... It still smells like her.

* * *

_**Day three: April 19, 3:04 P.M.**_

* * *

When I woke up, it was still bright outside. The clock on my nightstand informed me that it was three in the afternoon. My head felt like it had been cracked open, my brain whipped and was now being baked at a warming 350degrees.

"Morning sweetie." I moved my eyes, upon finding out that moving my entire head caused me incredible pain, to find Marie's azure eyes and...

* * *

...

I'm sorry. You probably want to hear all about what happened next and I understand that, I do. It was fantastic. But... I remember every single detail of her face, her body, the way she laughed, the way she blew the bangs out of her eye when she engaged in deep thought. I remember these past 17 days with Marie better than any test I've ever studied for, any book I've ever read over twenty times, anything.

And... It hurts. It hurts that I had to leave her behind. Ed and I left Peach Creek in such a rush, we left her behind. I'm certain her sisters will take care of her but I'm even more certain they're after us, Ed for being the object of May's affection and I for hurting their sister.

I deserve it though. I caused all of this. Eddy McGee and I caused this.

Without going into too much detail, I can tell you that Marie spent another night at my house, watching movies, trading laughs, cooking dinner and midnight snacks followed by us falling asleep in each other's arms once again.

She left in the morning of the twentieth after having pretty much ignored the frantic and threatening texts and voicemails her sisters had been kind enough to leave regularly every hour for about forty-two hours. We kissed for a good five minutes before she practically ran away from my front door with a giant grin on her face. I closed the door, leaned against it and sighed happily. Life could be so fantastic from time to time.

* * *

_**Day four: April 20, 12:12 P.M.**_

* * *

"Guess whose favorite sister brought home Chinese food?" I was sitting on the couch, reading, when Grace made a grand entrance through the front door, holding out boxes from Lee's, a relatively close restaurant where we used to go to all the time.

"Yeah, we've been over this Grace; Lee's Indonesian."

"Close enough!" She, what would best be described as, ruffled my beanie before dropping the boxes on the table and throwing herself into the armchair with a big grin on her face. I finished the page and was startled when I looked up to see her staring at me with that big grin.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"Sooooo..." Devious, she had always been. "Did you score last night?"

"Wh- Grace, please!" The only one more blunt and direct than Mr. Tact, Eddy, himself had to be my sister. "That is really none of your business!"

"Oh come on! We're siblings! We're supposed to talk about that stuff!"

"We never have before!" If there is one thing I have learned from all of this, except the fact that the appearance of cans can be deceiving, it's to never insert an item of food or beverage in my mouth mid-conversation.

"Three years back, Jo' and I got drunk and made sweet love for an entire weekend!" Noodles flew everywhere when I half-screamed unintelligible syllables and coughed at the same time.

"WHY- WHY- WHY WOULD I WANT TO KNOW THAT YOU HAD RELATIONS OF THE INTIMATE NATURE WITH NAZZ'S SISTER?" Never had blushed so furiously in my life. Nazz was indeed quite attracti- Nazz was a freaking bombshell for heaven's sake. One thing that the entire male population of Peach Creek universally agreed upon was that Nazz was walking in her sister's footsteps.

Josephine von Bartonshmeer... Was hands down the most beautiful woman to make it out of Peach Creek, Marie being a _young _woman (!). Every boy, guy, man, dude, feller, hustler, gangster, wankster, prankster and gentleman in the Peach Creek and Lemon Brook areas had had a crush on her at least once. And those were only the ones who turned out to be homosexual.

"What? I thought we were sharing?" She grinned deviously (I told you) and opened a box. "I got... Uhm... What seems to be some sort of rodent..."

"That's the chicken."

"How'd you know that?"

"It says so on the box."

"You read Chinese? Impressive!"

"Not really, I do however have a basic understanding in the English language." I was always the straight man in my sister's antics.

"Ah..." She laughed it away. "So-"

"No, we did not 'bump uglies'."

"You're getting good at this."

"Practice my dear Grace, practice."

"So you know what I'm gonna bring up next?" I sighed; never could she visit without trying to convince me.

"I'm happy here Grace."

"They're ignoring you completely! I'm sorry to tell you this li'l bro but our parents are dickheads." Again, noodles everywhere.

"Grace!"

"It's true! Don't get me wrong, I do love them because, well, they're my parents but that's about it!" The grin had long since disappeared, replaced with a disapproving look. "Look, when was the last time mom and dad was home for more than a week?"

"I-"

"When?"

"Grace-"

"_When, _Eddward?" She never used my full name. She was serious this time.

"... Sometime before Uncle Monty's funeral."

"Exactly! That was eight years ago! EIGHT YEARS! They've left you alone for eight years!" She was really getting worked up now and I was incredibly uncomfortable with the conversation.

"You know they have busy-"

"Their jobs doesn't automatically provide them with an excuse to neglect their children! Especially not a nine-year old boy whose sister is nothing but a jail-birding bitch and who couldn't even take care of herself!" She paused for a moment. "You know Steph and I have room at our place, right?"

"Grace, our parents... There is no real excuse for their absence, I can and will not deny that. But I've gotten along just well, no major faults. Even after you left to conquer the world." She opened her mouth but I held up a hand to silence her. "Do I wish our parents had been more present and involved? Of course. But what is done is done and it is honestly too late to do anything to change it. Perhaps someday I will take Steph and you up on that offer but for now, my home is here in Peach Creek. If not because of mother and father, then it is because of my friends. So once again Grace, I politely decline your invitation to move out of our childhood home and into your current apartment. But, if you would like to, we could have a better relationship with complete honesty. Deal?"

"My brother... Always so polite, diplomatic... How is it you are everything I'm not?" Tears had formed in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away. "Deal, complete honesty." Her facial expression returned to a grin as we shook hands. "What is- Is this pigeon?" She studied the text on yet another box.

"Not even close, that's the swordfish. It's quite delicious actually." She looked at the box in disbelief for a few seconds before handing it over to me.

"I can't believe the crap these Asians eat..." She mumbled as she opened another noodle box.

"So, Grace..." I suddenly remembered that I was on a mission. Or, well, doing a favor for Max that was probably helping him... In some way... "Where have you been this last year?"

"Well, I travelled a lot, moving from state to state. I did all the touristy stuff, like..." She started to dig in her back pocket. "Here we're at the Grand Canyon!" She pulled out her cell phone and a picture of my sister with her arm casually flung around her flat mate Stephanie in front of a giant sign that read 'Welcome to the Grand Canyon'.

"Cool." I was curious, was that it? Sightseeing? That's why Max wanted to know this; tourist advice?

"Here's... Mount Rushmore. Statue of Liberty. Some old guy at a café in Florida that bought us coffee. Here's the Hollywood sign! And here is where the guy attempted to make off with my cell phone! Here's me catching up with him, punching him in the face and here we are with the police!" She really had been around the country.

"Did... You work during this time? To fund the trip I mean." She shot me an odd look.

"We robbed banks along the way." She started to laugh and I nervously joined her in an uncertain chuckle.

"You're... Not serious, are you?"

"Of course not li'l bro! God, have I missed you or what?" She leaned in and... Playfully 'noogied' my head.

"Cut it out!"

"Fine! Killjoy." She blew a raspberry in my general direction before sitting down and grabbing another box.

"During this incredible journey of yours in the past year, did you possibly happen to visit Detroit?" I tried to ask as casually as possible.

"Yeah, Steph had to visit some old contacts there for some business; her job doesn't stop just because she's on vacation." Contacts... Associates, colleagues, pals, all words that would be acceptable but both Grace and Max had used the term _contacts _when describing work related people. One of those coincidences that seemed incredibly coincidental but wasn't once you knew the full story. "Why you askin'?" She nonchalantly raised an eyebrow.

"Well... It is the Motor City after all and I know Steph has a thing for cars so I thought she might've wanted to see it." I hadn't thought that! I was barely thinking at all! I had enough trouble trying to remember every single detail that I just knew Max would question me about.

"Ah, yeah, she was like a kid in a candy store, no foolin'!" She laughed and threw the phone to me. A picture of Steph... Lying on the hood of a Chrysler with an... Orgasmic look on her face. I quickly gave the phone back to Grace who grinned. "A really naughty kid I guess."

"Disturbing..." I drank from my Coca Cola can and thought out a valid cover story for the last question. "I read this article in last week's paper that the Smithsonian is... Uhm, renovating for a month. You ever been to the Smithsonian?"

"Oh yeah, it's cool. It's really, really big; you most definitely lose people up in there. I mean, what you think is easy, going in there to find a specific thing you're looking for and then leaving is a whole lot more difficult than one would think. Three men..." Something dark came over her eyes and she became quiet. Afraid to break the spell, I waited. "I'm sorry, I must've zoned out for a moment..." What kind of thoughts had bothered her there, I'll never know. But whatever it was, she didn't want me asking questions about so she did what she did best; connive and avert attention. "So, d'you have fun with Marie last night?"

"It was fantastic."

"You like her?"

"I really do."

"You love her?"

"... I don't know, maybe."

"Love's a binary state li'l bro, either you are or you aren't. Think about it."

"I will."

"So, you need any tips on how to munch carpet?"

"GRACE!"

"I'm just asking! I wasn't the expert I'm now at first! The gods oughta know, Jo' certainly taught me a few helpful tips that weekend... Never have I had a triple-orgasm in under ten minutes!"

"That's it, I'm done."

"Where you going li'l bro? We're just coming to the good part! If you'll par-"

"I REFUSE TO PARDON THAT PUN!"


	6. Keep the Cars, Leave Me the Garage

**A/N: My profile has been updated! **There's now information about all of my stories and what to be interested in; **a small... Competition if you'd like to call it that.**

If we don't speak again, I wish you a pleasant reading experience and thank whether you've been here for the start or is just joining us, whether you're just reading this chapter or the rest of the story.

* * *

**Chapter 6 – You Can Keep the Cars, Leave Me the Garage**

* * *

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good and own everything in this story except for anything associated with the Ed, Edd n Eddy franchise or the city of San Francisco.

* * *

_**Day five: April 21, 3:42 P.M.**_

* * *

I was finally on my way home after an exhausting day at school. Somebody had apparently called in a bomb threat so the entire student body spent two hours sitting on the football field. Not only that, the only time I had properly seen Marie was during homeroom before the first lesson; she had mysteriously vanished after that. I thought about texting her but realized that we never exchanged numbers. That could of course wait; I had absolutely no intention of setting foot in the trailer park more than necessary. If Marie had told her sisters about us, they'd threaten me. If she hadn't, I would be chased down and... Well, all that jazz.

Grace's car was parked outside, she always thought it was too much trouble opening the garage and parking there. The garage... That gave me an idea.

There was a junkyard not too far away from the Cul-de-Sac where Ed, Eddy and I usually spent our time when we were younger and these days it was the most frequent location our get-togethers took place.

More specifically, a tacky old purple van with stripes of fire along the side and a water bed in the back; probably left abandoned and forgotten when the 80s' ended. When we realized that no one would ever come to claim it, we decided that it would be nice to have a motorized vehicle. Not that it was far to school but more in general, a step towards maturity and acceptance to society. And the cross-country road trip Eddy had been convinced we would be going on since we were thirteen.

So, every now and then, we would get together and repair the van. Well, I would do the repairs while Ed and Eddy kept me company after it came up that they didn't know the first things about the inner workings of a car. When something was beyond fixing or missing, I would describe the necessary part and send Ed out to find it. Eddy searched at first too but a lot of the searching meant digging through dirty trash which... Ed was the specialist at. Eddy would instead often head into the main street and come back with candy, soda or food from Lee's. Those days redefined our friendship.

There was something I hadn't told them though. The repairs were basically finished; the only thing the thing really needed was a full tank of gas and a good wash. I pulled out my phone, dialed a number and moments later, the garage door opened. A while ago, I decided that opening the garage door could be simpler so I 'hooked it up' to a number that it only reacts to if the caller is within the perimeters of the Cul-de-Sac; free of charge.

...

What? Haven't you ever been bored in the summer?

I looked around the various half-finished experiments and found what I was looking for, something I had mixed together years and years ago; it was a solution that had the same compounds as petrol, used briefly for a jetpack scam. I placed my school bag next to the table and grabbed the can of petrol. I dialed the number again and the door closed behind me.

There was something relaxing about that afternoon. The sun was shining through thin clouds, casting a comfortable light over everything. Spring was in the air, leaves were starting to peek out. When I walked through the construction site of the Peach Creek Estates, I half expected to see Sarah and Jimmy run around playing somewhere before I remembered. A breeze rolled over me as if to offer consolation of some sort.

Before I knew it, I had reached my destination and I couldn't help but smile. There it was, that beaten up retro van that was as big a symbol for our childhood as jawbreakers was. I filled her up and opened the door on the driver's side. I got in, sat down in the seat and just took a second to take it all in. It must've been at least a good five-six years since we found that van, three imaginative youngsters stranded on an alien planet. Amazing how time flies...

The first thing we did when we claimed the car as our own was to look the entire thing over. Meaning Eddy threw himself on the water bed, then the horn while I looked in the glove compartment and found the keys. I left them there for a better purpose.

The engine roared to life on the third try and I couldn't help but grin widely.

"Double-D, you're a bloody genius..."

* * *

It's still burning above our heads. The van that is. I know we aren't safe here, I know we should move. The van will attract unwanted attention soon and we should run until our legs can't hold us anymore but I'm just so tired. Tired of... Life. Tired of everything. Family. Friends.

I wish I could go to sleep. Dream, see them again. But I can't. I have to finish this, my unfortunate story first.

* * *

_**Day five: April 21, 4:20 P.M.**_

* * *

The Mercedes wasn't there when I came back; meaning Grace was out somewhere doing who knows what. I quickly opened and closed the garage, I didn't wanna be spotted. Mostly because it was a surprise for Ed and Eddy and because Kevin would certainly come with snide comments.

I prepared a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and- You know what? This is the washing of a car. It's not the least bit interesting.

* * *

_**Day five: April 21, 4:35 P.M.**_

* * *

The car was sparkling; the only way to notice that it was used was the few dents it had. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead, washing the thing was only step one; I was planning on redecorating the interior. Or, at least vacuum the shag carpet.

That would have to wait though, my stomach was calling out for food and who was I to not answer it? I rinsed out the sponge and the rag, thankful that Father had let me install a drain in the corner of the garage. I kicked off my shoes before opening the door and entering the hallway.

"... I told you, it's not that bad." I heard Grace's voice somewhere in the living room. The pause indicated that she was on the phone so I carefully tip toed past the living room, straight to the kitchen. I was hungry, not rude.

'_I think there's some leftovers from Lee's yesterday..._' I was just about to open the fridge when I was distracted.

"What? It's back here in Peach Creek?" I know it's incredibly rude to listen in on people's conversations but I was curious; who was she talking about?

"How the fuck did it find the damn thing? There was top security around it; nobody could take a shit without my knowledge!" It must've been important, Grace only swore like that when she was angry, annoyed and irritated. Pissed off to put it simply.

"Look, LOOK. It's here, there's not a fucking thing we can do about it! Let's look forward instead, the deal closes this time in seven days so prepare!" I vaguely heard someone argue on the other end of the line. "Make sure it's tighter then! If it finds us this god damn time, we're over with! It's a fucking miracle we got that tip about Friday otherwise we would've been toast!" Friday? Wasn't that when Max...

"Double-D? He doesn't know shit; he thinks this is just another one of his sister's random visits." Pause. She laughed. "You got that right Steph, imagine if we could get him in on this!" I backed away from the fridge; my appetite had been replaced with nausea. What the hell was going on around me?

"Yeah, he's met some blue haired bitch that seems like his exact opposite; left them alone until yesterday but I don't think he took the step to fu-"I returned to the garage. In the same turn we installed the drain, we also sound proofed the entire garage after I started to work late into the night and while my parents weren't home, our neighbors certainly were.

The entire conversation I had just listened in on was spinning in my head. What was the deal here; why was there a deal in seven days? Why did my sister talk about me like that? And what the devil had happened Friday?

I had a feeling that these questions could only be answered by one person and that was never going to be my sister. I pulled out my phone and dialed the ever so familiar number.

"Yah?" Even though it never showed itself otherwise, Max always answered his phone with a distinct New York dialect.

"Hello Max, it's Double-D."

"Hey, it's Double-D!" He sounded awfully happy to hear from me. "Do you think it would be possible to call you back?"

"Actually-"

"No, no, wait!" There was female giggling in the background. It worried me.

"Max, you're dressed right now, aren't you?"

"What? Oh, no, no, it's not like that! Answering my phone while doing- I'm a professional for heaven's sake!" I didn't know what to make of that statement and if I could trust it; he sounded incredibly unfocused on our conversation.

"Max-"

"No, look! It all works out! You know why? Because you're meeting Marie at the café at... Hold on... Two, yes, two! It's a date, your first official date!" Max Flywheel had always been weird. But there was something about that phone call that I still can't put my finger on... Something familiar... I don't really think he was sober at the time to be quite honest...

"Okay...?" I offered.

"Yes! But could I call you back?"

"Certainly. It's just that Grace was talking on the phone with her roommate and they mentioned last Friday and something about a deal and I realized that you might know something about it." The giggling in the background stopped and nothing was heard. I thought he had hung up on me. "Or at least would want to-"

"You have my full attention."

* * *

_**Day six: April 22, 1:55 P.M.**_

* * *

I had practically been running from the moment the bell rang out for the day. To say that I was nervous was an understatement. Our first official... Date. I was dating Marie Kanker. Well, after the date I was but... Marie Kanker; my girlfriend...

Never thought I'd say that.

"Yelp!" I had been so preoccupied in my thoughts that I didn't notice the person right in front of me. The result was the two of us colliding, falling and landing in a neat pile. "Watch where you're going next time dude!" So identical, down to the voice.

"_Spencer?_"

"_Double-D?_" I crawled up and found myself face to face with Max's sister Spencer Flywheel. Same blonde hair, same energetic blue eyes shooting out of the skull. We stared at each other for five seconds before cracking matching grins. "How are you man? It's been forever!" She pulled me up to my feet and we embraced each other.

"I'm good, I'm good! What about you? It's been quite some time!" If I haven't told you, it had been a good year since Max and Spencer spent time in Peach Creek.

"Indeed it has! I've been good, travelling across the country!" Just because Max had told me their story doesn't mean I didn't want to hear Spencer's version of it. "But of course Max already told you all about it." She didn't seem mad about it, just stating facts.

"Well, yeah..."

"That's okay!" She glanced at her wrist watch. "Look, I gotta go but you better believe we'll meet up again!" She winked and grazed past me, squeezing my shoulder in the process.

"You know we will!"

"Enjoy your date!" She shouted behind me and I blushed; now everybody knew? I brushed the dust off of my knees, turned and followed Spencer's back until I couldn't see her anymore. I shook my head and grinned, she was just about as eccentric as her brother.

'_Well, here we go I guess..._' I took a deep breath and pushed the door to the café open. I gave a quick wave to Andrew, senior who was working afternoon's there, behind the counter before looking around. Since my AP math class was the first one out on Tuesdays, there weren't a lot of people in the café.

"Hey Double-D." I turned to Andrew. "Over there." He nodded towards a corner booth where a hooded person was sitting.

"Thank you."

"Latte without sugar?"

"Why thank you Andrew." Jones' Café was the only place where I was a person without Ed and Eddy. Back when the Flywheels' lived here, Simon and I used to spend our afternoons there. After they moved, I continued to be a regular there because Jones' had become my safe haven. The only one of the Cul-de-Sac kids to ever step foot in there was Nazz and that was hardly ever.

But now, there I was. Standing only footsteps between me and Marie. Our date. The date. One of many more. With my girlfriend. A date. With my girlfriend. A date. With-

"Hello sweetie."

"Max?" My stomach dropped, in what I think was disappointment, when I reached the table and saw that the hooded figure was indeed Max Flywheel.

"Yeah, I thought we should talk." It seemed like it was all I did; talk, talk, talk. "Have a seat." I did just that.

"I'm... Sorry, I thought we were- I mean I was-"

"Yeah, Marie's gonna be here within the half hour. I just thought I'd grab you before you two get caught in each other's eyes for the rest of the day." He grinned slyly.

"... Are we really that obvious?"

"Son, I say son! If love was a drug, you'd be talking to the ghost of Betty Ford by now!" A blush spread over my face.

"... Moving right along, what did you want to talk about?"

"Yeah, right, that..." He sighed, hung his head and glanced out the window. "Look, I know you wanna get answers to your questions and trust me, they're gonna be answered..."

"Well, then why-"

"... When the time is right." Of course, the secrecy of the Flywheels. It was getting really ridiculous. "Yeah, I know, it's ridiculous that I want to talk to you without being able to say anything but I just... I just wanna spend some time with you." He looked up and there was a trace of sadness written across his face.

"Are you alright Max?" I was worried now, he was never the emotional type yet within 96 hours, he had displayed a wide range of them.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." I think I saw a tear in his eye but if it was, he blinked it away quickly.

"Here you go man." Andrew came over and put my latte in front of me.

"Thanks."

"Anyway!" Whatever moment Max and I had just shared was gone, back was the charismatic charmer with the wide grin. "If you could please list the questions you have, I'll say if I can answer them or not!"

"Seems fair. Okay..." There were so many, I didn't know where to begin. "Who was the girl in the background during our phone call yesterday?"

"No answer."

"What deal was Grace talking about?"

"No answer."

"Is Marie really coming today?"

"Confirmed it with her twice."

"What happened last Friday?"

"No answer."

"So no answer to anything concerning Friday?"

"Well, the movies were good."

"What is back here in Peach Creek?"

"You know the answer to that."

"I do?"

"Yes."

"What-"

"Next question!"

"Are you sure Marie's coming?"

"Yes."

"What is it that needs tight security?"

"No answer."

"Have you met my sister before?"

"Yes and no."

"... What kind of an answer is that?"

"I haven't met her but I know her."

"You're driving me to the brink of insanity here Max!"

"First time I hear that coming from somebody who isn't a Flywheel."

"Fine then. Who is my sister?"

"**Grace Hammer**."

"**Who is Grace Hammer**?" We had unknowingly leaned closer and closer to each other with each question, our noses close enough to touch.

"... **A person involved in shady businesses and who cannot be trusted**." He leaned back and rubbed his face; Q&A was clearly over.

"Who can be then?"

"Spencer and I." He looked at me with tired eyes; he seemed to have aged years in the short time we had been sitting there.

"How can I if you won't tell me something?" While I was extremely irritated by all this back and forth; I was afraid I had crossed a line when he just stared at me. I had only seen him like that once before and that was just before they moved away. He never bounced back from that until they came to visit a year later. At least a minute passed. "... Max?"

"You're right." He lowered his eyes. "You're right." It was like he was now broken down. Like my comment was the final nail in the coffin.

"Max-

"Look, I'm sorry. But lives are in danger here Double-D, the less you know, the more alive you are." Was he serious? Lives were at- What the hell was- When did my life turn into a TV-show? "Here. First date's about impressions." He stood up and placed a plastic bag I hadn't seen before on the table. "Take care my friend." He leaned in and gave me a quick but affectionate hug.

And like that, he put on his sunglasses and left. I didn't know what to feel. On one hand, I was thoroughly annoyed with Max's lack of... Respect for my point of view of course but on the other hand... I clearly wasn't paying attention to his side of this tale taken straight out of some unimaginative story posted on some fan site.

I glanced into the bag and saw a bouquet of violets. I smiled at Max's consideration, it's something I normally would've thought of if it wasn't for the fact that I had been so nervous about this meeting the entire day.

Suddenly, there she was. Marie Kanker was standing in the doorway of Jones', a frayed hoodie covering a tattered tank top, washed out jeans covering her legs, worn out sneakers on her feet and earplugs which she pulled out. She stuck her hand into her pocket to pause whatever song was on, flashing that old black sweatband still covering her left wrist. Her hair covering her eye like always. That little 'swagger' in her walk when she walked up to Andrew to order. If Max was right, that love was a drug, I most certainly would refuse rehabilitation.

She turned around and smiled when she saw me. With every step she took, my heart skipped a beat. She stopped right in front of my and grinned. She leaned in and kissed me passionately on the mouth. I became caught up in the moment and when I no longer felt her lips against mine, I opened my eyes to see that beautiful face mere inches away from mine; those magnificent lips opening to speak with a voice sent down by the heavens.

"Hello sweetie."


	7. A Kiss To Build A Dream On

**Chapter 7 – A Kiss To Build A Dream On**

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Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good and own everything in this story except for anything associated with the Ed, Edd n Eddy franchise or the city of San Francisco.

* * *

_**Day ?: 1897, 10:24 P.M.**_

* * *

"I say John, the construction is coming along rather nicely, don't you think?"

"I should say so Eddward, we're ahead of schedule!" I was standing there with my good friend John H. Wilson, looking over the construction for the headquarters. A building scraping the clouds in the center of New York, that was the plan.

"Hey boss, you gotta look at this." The supervising manager, overlooking the entire project called for John's attention.

"Right away Mr. McGee. Pardon me Eddward."

"Not at all John." I wish I could describe it to you. The sights, the sounds! The indescribable sensation of watching a dream come true!

I took a moment to take it all in. The sweaty men carrying around bulks and tools, the dust stirring up from deliveries of materials, seeing the steel frame grow out of the ground that had been our dream for the past five years...

I blinked away a tear.

John; he was the leading force in this. He was the one with financial support, not only his own capital but a handful of his friends had been fighting to invest in this project. That's not saying John was the sole provider for this; our dear friend Theodore provided some influential contacts through his former high ranking position within the police and his current one within the government. You may of course wonder how I fit into the equation. Well, I brought the intelligence to the table; I was the sole designer for the building's blueprint and I handled most, if not all, of the paperwork.

"Oh, I'm so, so sorry. Sir." Suddenly, my world swayed when one of the workers pushing a wheelbarrow containing sacks bumped into me. The wheelbarrow toppled over and just before I was to fall over, I felt a hand on my shoulder helping me find my balance again. He quickly added a 'sir' at the end of his apology, as if he had noticed that I was not one of his usual colleagues in construction. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, quite." He kept his head hung low and the cap on his head covered most parts of his face as he quickly gathered up all of the sacks into the wheelbarrow again.

"Once again, I am so terribly sorry, sir." He nodded in my general direction before turning and quickly walking away.

"I say, you!" He froze in his steps. "Come back here!" He turned slowly and walked up to me with insecure steps. "What is your name?"

"Uhm, E-E-Edward. E-Edward Firefly." His head, if possible, hung even lower this time. "The first."

"Pardon?"

"The first. My father's name is Arthur." He almost mumbled that last part as if regretting that he brought it up.

"Would you mind looking at me for a moment?" He raised his head slowly. When his face came into range, I raised my hand and pushed the cap up. A lad, no older than 17 stared back at me, cheeks flushed with dust and dirt specks placed all over his face. Fear in his eyes. "How old are you?"

"21."

"Are you lying?"

"... Yes."

"How old are you really?"

"... 15." He averted his gaze.

"May I ask what you're doing here then?" Sure enough, the boys were basically thrown into the working man's world these days and with New York City being on the go, cheap labor was a necessity.

"I- It's my father, he had an accident last year at his job. I-If we don't have some sort of income, we'll get evicted." While I had heard of stories such as his, I had never encountered one in person.

"What about your mother?"

"She passed away from tuberculosis when I was five, it's just me, my pops and my little sister now..." His eyes refused to focus, fluttering and landing on everything around except for my own.

"Son, do you get by on this salary?"

"... Yes, just barely."

"You do a good job here?"

"Yes, sir!" He straightened out to his full height and I saw that not only was he a few inches taller than myself, he was also a lot more muscular than most of the fellows working there. If he was fully capable to do his duty and for such a loving and caring cause, who was I to stop him?

"Very well then, run along young Firefly." I smiled gently at him and his previously insecure face cracked up into a grin. He lifted his cap out of respect before taking the wheelbarrow and running along; a little extra fast I imagine in the knowledge that I was still watching him.

"Tally-ho Eddward, was that young lad giving you trouble?" You could see the change in the workers when John was on the site; he was known as a ferocious businessman who fought to the last drop of blood for a cause or a deal he believed in. That was of course not the way I knew him; he was rather calm and well kept as a civilian.

"Oh, no, not at all, I fear that I was the one giving him trouble by taking up his time."

"Did you enjoy the chat?"

"Quite, quite..." I paused for a moment when I saw that the boy, Firefly, had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me with frightened eyes. I assume bumping into the friend of the boss' boss can make any man nervous. "I say, could I make a suggestion?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if we could give that young man a raise."

"Did I hear you correctly now? You want to give him a raise?" He nodded his head in the direction of Firefly who, I can only imagined, whimpered a little.

"From my own coin purse of course. An extra $3 every week perhaps?" He looked at me as if I had gone mad.

"Have you gone mad? You want to give that much money to a young lad who you don't even know?"

"Look, John..." I put my arm around his shoulders and turned around, backs against the young man who looked like he was going to faint. "I just have this feeling in my bones that... There's something about this kid. Like... I can't really put my finger on it."

"Eddward, it's just a random kid! The city's full of them!"

"I know but..." I glanced back at the kid. "There's just this eerie sensation of... Something bigger than ourselves made this happen for a reason. Like it's going to help the both of us in a way. Like it was meant to be."

"I'm-"

"I know, I don't believe in destiny but in free will and choice! But what if? What if- Now John, just play along for a moment! What if, somewhere along the line, his great-great granddaughter marries my great-great grandson because the raise allows him to follow his dreams?"

"You've lost it Eddward."

"I know, it's insane and it could apply to everyone! I don't smile at a waitress when she hands me my coffee, she goes home and hits her kids out of sheer lack of confidence! I don't go into that store; the owner decides to close for lack of even one customer! You don't go home to your wife, she sleeps with someone else and your kids will end up homeless because their dad drank himself to death!" He made a face.

"What?"

"Look, John, you work too hard! You need to spend more time with your wife and kids!"

"Oh yeah? Well... When're you going to ask Margaret out then?"

"How the hell is that close to relevant?"

"She's not going to be lonesome lass forever!"

"That is- Shut up for one damn moment and listen! You take your work, not only this project of ours too seriously!"

"_Too _seriously?"

"Yes! You know darn well that most of the tasks and checkups you do around here are snubbed right from under Mr. McGee's nose!" Said man perked up at the mention of his name.

"Yeah sir?"

"Nothing Mr. McGee, thank you!" He nodded and turned around, confused. I had to steer the conversation home, otherwise a fistfight could well enough be looming over our heads. "All I'm saying here is... This raise, it's just a fix idea. And we both know where fix ideas can lead." I gestured to the giant steel frame shooting out of the ground and was stretching to the sky. He spent a few moments staring at it before looking at me with a slight smile.

"You really think I should spend more time with Cettie and the kids?"

"Cross my heart."

"It's settled then!" He smiled and slammed his hand against my back in a friendly manner; I was almost thrown forward. "I'll talk to Mr. McGee and hey, this raise thing is on me. Throughout the rest of the project"

"No, no-"

"I won't take no for an answer, it's on me. I don't know what I would do without you; probably work myself to death otherwise. Ask Margaret out." He added the last one quickly before shooting me a wink and jogging over to Mr. McGee. I turned around and saw that the young Firefly was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I smiled and mouthed "_It's okay._"

"It's okay..." That building. That magnificent building. It was a dream. An unstoppable dream. And it was the start of something great.

* * *

_**Day ?: 1:41 P.M.**_

* * *

"Hey Double-D!"

"Yes Eddy?"

"How much of this am I supposed to add?"

"What are you-"I turned around after being temporarily distracted by my notes. "Eddy, NO!"

It was too late. And out of the vial where Eddy had poured massive amounts of a radioactive fluid, a green glowing monster raised itself, growing in size for every second passing.

"EVACUATE THE SCIENCE LAB!" The principal's fear filled voice was heard over the intercom, invoking panic in every student. And while everyone just ran around in circles, flailing their arms, Eddy and I were staring the monster straight in the eye.

"What do we do Double-D?" He whispered out of the corner of his mouth, moving as little as possible. Suddenly, the green monster had taken the appearance of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, roaring in our faces.

"Well, running would be optional." I whispered back.

"GOOD!" Out of the blue, the classroom wall to our left fell outwards, revealing the inside of an airplane hangar. Eddy didn't think twice before taking off into the open area. I looked at the dinosaur who looked back with a confused face. It cleared its throat and pulled out a bowtie from behind its back, tying it around its neck with great care.

"I say Eddward young bean, would you like some tea?"

* * *

_**Day ?: 1927, 2:57 P.M.**_

* * *

"What?"

"I said: George, it's almost tea time." I looked up from the newspaper; I had been exceptionally lost in thought.

"Is it?" A quick glance at the pocket watch on the side table. "By heavens, it is!" While in reality, I had been sitting in the study for close to two hours, it felt like not two minutes had passed.

"I don't blame you; there has been a lot on your mind lately." She hoisted the small person in her arms up a little to get a firmer grip. "Come on."

"Next Friday, it's been ten years and yet... I still can't fathom the fact that he's gone." I quickly folded the newspaper and placed it on the chair as I got up.

"I know, my love. I know." I embraced her tenderly and looked down upon my son, a smile subconsciously appearing on my face.

"And it's such a shame that Albert will never get to meet his grandfather..." I tickled my son's face with my index finger and he giggled.

"Albert and Eddward... Sounds like an intellectual vaudeville act." She remarked and I laughed quietly. At the sight of his old man cracking up, Albert did the same, happy that I was happy.

I never treated Albert like a baby or a child. I treated him like the human being he was because I always knew that he, along with almost every other baby, was a lot more intelligent than we would credit him. I'm not saying that the parenting skills of others are inferior to my own or that I would treat him to cigar and whisky the day he's able to walk, no, no; it's just that I was never keen on the idea that even if I only understood fragments of it, they'd have to 'baby talk' to me.

"Wilson called today, asked how things were going." We had ventured into the lounge where Catherine, my beautiful wife, had prepared the usual three o' clock tea tray.

"That's nice of him."

"He finished the call quickly adding 'pleasecomeback, yourreplacement scaresmesenseless!'" I laughed and sat down in the armchair, pouring up two cups.

"Nothing about the agency falling apart?"

"He frantically whispered that before saying hello." We shared a laugh, Albert gurgling in his mother's arms.

"He's such a fantastic man."

"You both are."

"Sons of great men I guess." 30 years had passed since my father, Eddward Hammer, and his friend as well as business partner John Wilson built and founded the Agency in the heart of New York. After a somewhat rocky start, the Agency started branching out into America, especially with the help of President Roosevelt. The founding of the Agency in turn led to the founding of a bureau which was to be a face outwards. The Agency was never meant to be of public knowledge which is why the giant skyscraper in the middle of this great up and coming city was home to various companies owned by John Wilson's tycoon friends with the top seventeen floors hosting... Well, no one really knew what John Wilson stored up there. Except for his employees working up there.

The building, cleverly named Wilson's Hammer, sadly is no more. It succumbed ten years ago in the very fire that claimed the lives of my father, Mr. Wilson and my mother Margaret. Since I was the only child of my father, Wilson the same, we were offered the position of directors after the death of Mr. Wilson. In the true spirit of my father, I declined, leading the second Wilson to become director of the Agency.

"George, you're too modest." She shot me a heartwarming smile before focusing her eyes upon our son. "I can't help thinking, while it's absolutely amazing to stay home with you and Albert... I do miss work. Who would ever think that?"

"I know the feeling, Catherine... Whether it be when doing the dishes, changing Albert or drinking tea with my beautiful wife, my mind keep drifting to... Well, Matt and the lab." Matt was my young assistant- Young and young; he was barely seven years younger than myself. The youngest of three siblings, he came to me in order to... In the beginning, it was to prove himself to his surroundings but now, I think he has something to prove to himself.

"One day, Matthew Firefly is going to burn your lab down, George." I chuckled.

"On the day Grace blows up your office, Catherine." Grace was Catherine's assistant and she had made it her life's purpose to get Matt together with the young flower. Oh, my wife was a determined woman indeed. It was that determination that led to the promotion that led to her meeting me.

When our laughter died down, we shared a look of silent agreement.

"We're getting a nanny, aren't we?" She was right. There was no way we could leave the commitment our work carried. But so many marriages had been driven apart this way; the stress leaving the spouses drifting away from each other emotionally which would end unhappily for everyone involved. So the question was: could we do it? Could we really fit our work into the equation of taking care of our beautiful son without damaging our sacred bond?

"It doesn't look better dear." Yes, we could. Yes, we did.

* * *

_**Day ?: 9:38 P.M.**_

* * *

"Max? Where are we?" I seemed to be... Nowhere. There was absolutely nothing around me. Except for Max Flywheel. A panting and out of breath Max Flywheel.

"What?" He spun around, looking at me with a bewildered and disoriented stare. "No, no, no, no, no! You're not supposed to be here!"

"Where... Exactly is here?" One thing did perplex me; if there was complete darkness around me, how is it I could see Max as clearly as if the sun was shining down on him?

"This is Here!"

"But I don't know where here is!"

"It's here!"

"But where is here?"

"Here is here!"

"But where is it?"

"Here!"

"Let me rephrase the question; where are we?"

"Here!"

"And let me guess, 'here' is 'here'?"

"See, you're getting the hang of this!"

"No I'm not! I don't know-"

"I Don't Know's not here, he's on third base!"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

"He is? Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Not Who, What!"

"WHAT!"

"Yes, What! Where is-"Suddenly, a faint rumbling was heard in the distance. Max pushed me aside and stumbled past me, staring into the darkness with fear in his eyes. "Oh my god. They found me, I don't know how but they found me." That's when I saw it too. Giant shapes moving towards us from the depths of the darkness. "RUN FOR IT DOUBLE-D!"

"Who? Who?" Max stumbled past me again, panicked.

"Who do you think? THE ELEPHANTS!" For a moment, I thought he had lost it. But then I saw them.

"Holy shit!" The words slipped out of my mouth before I could even think and before I could even react, Max had tackled me to the side. Out of the unknown, a long row of elephants in every shade of pink there is came stampeding out, the leading one close to crushing me had I not been thrown out of the way.

"I'LL DRAW THEIR FIRE!" He threw himself off of me and cut straight through the row, throwing marshmallows at the discolored animals.

"FIRE?"

"LOOK OUT!" A smaller one had approached me, using its trunk to investigate me; prod me and smell me. I quickly yanked myself back when it suddenly sneezed and imploded, turning into a giant flaming tennis ball. "LOOK OUT!" I threw myself to the side barely in time when one of the giant elephants stepped precisely where I had been seconds ago.

"MAX, WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON HERE?" This was beyond surreal, pink elephants, marching through the dark. Quite an unusual view.

"IT'S SEPTEMBER 22ND, ELEPHANT APPRECIATION DAY!"

"AND?"

"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? PINK ELEPHANTS ON PARADE!"

* * *

_**Day ?: 1979, 08:45 A.M.**_

* * *

"What?"

"I said, the parade starts in twenty minutes, we better hurry up!"

"Oh yeah... Yeah..." I still got distracted by her beauty. It didn't matter that we grew up together, side by side, day by day; her magnificence still stunned me with every new day.

"You wanna shower?"

"No, I think- I think it's better if I just go down for breakfast while you shower..."

"You afraid you might get... Distracted?"

"I'm just going to go."

"Love you!" She teased me by jumping out of bed, nude, practically strutting to the bathroom which totally made me lose my composure.

"Yeah, whatever..."

"And hey!" She popped back into the door frame. "I changed my mind."

"About?"

"Denver! I want you to marry me in Seattle and get a house in San Francisco." The personification of a goddess took step after step towards the bed until she quickly kissed me on the mouth, running back to the bathroom.

My parents worked at some big company in the research department, hers in the legal department. The Loopholes lived just down the street from us so the friendship between our folks was rather inevitable. Hannah and I were born the same year, she three months older. So throughout both of our childhoods, there had always been that one person, that one friend who was there for you. And when puberty rolled around... I'm quite surprised we avoided jumping each other's bones until the age of fifteen.

That day, it was Thanksgiving and as always, the Loopholes were coming over to watch the parade over breakfast. While Hannah and I loved to watch the giant balloons float down the streets of New York when we were younger, we had in later days stayed at the table for about thirty minutes before doing something else. Tradition was after all tradition.

I would always remember this day; the way the t-shirt I pulled over my head smelled like Hannah, the way the stairs creaked as I made my way down to the kitchen, the fact that I knew there was something going on before I heard my name being whispered. There was tension in the air, not from the people deep in conversation but rather the subject.

"- Gilbert at all. The less he knows about it, the better. In this case, less meaning not knowing anything." The voice of my father stopped me dead in my tracks just before walking into sight from the other side of the door. Was there something my parents we're keeping from me?

"Do you truly expect to keep the Agency out of your son's life forever? You're the Hammers for heaven's sake!" That was Mr. Loophole, Hannah's father. But what was 'the Agency'? And why was it something my parents wanted to keep me from knowing of?

"That's precisely why!"

"Hugh, you must understand, Albert's grandfather founded the Agency! Do you understand the responsibility that comes with it?" That was my mother's voice, she was involved in this?

"But right from the start, he swore off all leadership of the agency! You have essentially no powers in contrast to Wilson!" Mr. Wilson? My parent's boss who had been coming over for dinner as long as I could remember?

"That's not true, Hugh." Mrs. Loophole, Hannah's mother. Of course, the Agency must be where they worked! But... Why had I never heard about it until now?

"What?"

"Penelope's right, Hugh; John H. Wilson insisted that each new generation of the three founders would be a clean slate. Meaning, if Gilbert would decide differently from Albert; he could become co-director of the Agency! That's not a choice a seventeen year old should have to make!" My mother began to raise her voice toward the end of the sentence. Director? Of an agency? What the hell was going on?

"What's up?" I jumped slightly when Hannah, seemingly out of nowhere appeared, whispered in my ear. I placed a finger against her lips and continued to eavesdrop.

"That's insanity! If one generation would decide to use the Agency for evil? The whole world would go to hell!" Mr. Loophole raised his voice; Hannah grabbed and squeezed my hand.

"That's the thing; there's a failsafe to the entire system that would prevent it." My father spoke up again.

"What is it?"

"No one knows; it's a secret that has never been revealed and hopefully never have to be." There was a pause where the sound of coffee mugs being raised and lowered was the only thing heard.

"I-"Mrs. Loophole began. "It's just, if Gilbert is a direct descendent to one of the founders; shouldn't the chain of this knowledge continue?"

"That's... What we're on edge about. And why we must ask you to avoid talking to Hannah about the Agency until we make a decision." She squeezed my hand again; I squeezed back this time.

"We never really gave it any thought to do so..."

"Another thing that was decided from the very beginning was that the descending parents of the founders had no obligation to tell their offspring about the Agency but if the child or children were to approach them with the direct question, they were never to lie."

"So what is it then father?" The surprise on my parents and the Loopholes' faces was nothing compared to the surprise I felt when I rounded the corner into the kitchen. My heart beat faster than I ever could've imagined it would. Like it knew that it was meant for greater things. "What is _the Agency_?"

* * *

_**Day six: April 22, 2:13 P.M**__**.**_

* * *

"Hello sweetie." She sat down in the same spot Max had left mere minutes ago. "For me?" She glanced at the bag on the table.

"Uhm... Yes." She quickly pulled the contents out of the bag and her eye visibly lit up.

"Violets, they're my favorites!" A genuine look of surprise on her face, she admired the flowers before looking up at me. "I don't even care how you know; I've never gotten flowers from a guy before! Well, one guy but he doesn't count." I can't believe that the thought never crossed my mind, to buy- What? There was a guy before me?

"Uhm, Marie, not to pry but-"

"Relax, the whole thing was nothing." She reached across the small table, an easy effort, and took my hand in hers. I smiled at the gesture. "This feels nice."

"Indeed."

"I had a good time the other night...s." Spending almost 42 hours with Marie Kanker certainly drove me crazy. Crazy... In love!

"I assume we're doing it again soon?"

"Really? You wanna keep doing this?" I was a little hurt by the fact that she still thought I had the intention to stop this... Relationship I assume we can call it. Not even if I could baby, not even if I could.

"Of course I do." I leaned over the table and kissed her. It felt like I couldn't get enough of her, her body, her whole persona. It's like... She was my whole world and I couldn't breathe without her. See without her. Feel without her. Was I... Was I falling in love with Marie Kanker?

"You're awesome."She had this big grin plastered across her face when I sat down again. "So, favorite part of the two days. Go."

"Uhm..." To pick out one moment from those two days... It would be easier to play 'Where's Nirvana' in a picture full of Heavens. "When we woke up the first day and went up to the roof."

"Really? When Flywheel interrupted us?" I don't know why but suddenly the speakers in the café kicked to life and started playing some upbeat musical tune. Really rather strange, Andrew never had music on during his shifts.

"Well, yes, but also because... It was our first kiss where both participants were... Participating completely!" What started out as a nice sentence went to the dogs' then straight to hell.

"Oh yeah, that was pretty nice..." She stared at me with a sort of glazed look over her eyes, as if she was daydreaming. Or maybe she wasn't, it started to feel like she was waiting for the right heartbeat to jump over the table and eat me. "I have a cooler one though!"

"What?" She snapped out of her trance so quickly I barely snapped out of my own before she continued.

"Do you recall us having coffee just the other day?"

"Well, of course."

"'Cause I made a little list."

"Pardon?" She... A list?

"I made a little list!"

"... Of what?"

"Max might've poured some vodka in yours without your own say..."

"He- _What_?" He deliberately drugged me? Again? Oh yes, I wish I could say it was the first time Max had slipped me something; he claimed the first time was an accident.

"Now to some things I couldn't miss!" She looked... Gleeful. So gleeful. So devious. Still beautiful of course.

"You couldn't- What?"

"I really couldn't miss!"

"Okay...?"

"The second thing on here is the first thing that left me stumped; you're on my shoulder, slap my ass and mumbling 'My Humps'." I- WHAT?

"I DID WHAT?" She had me right where she wanted me; tortured, flustered and embarrassed over things she found cute.

"The next thing is the third as I am looking for your keys; you say 'a little to the left, something for you to squeeze'."

"Max Flywheel is a dead man." The worst thing that had happened last time Max drugged me was that I woke up in a jail cell. This was a lot worse. Marie was enjoying this too much.

"You must forgive me Double-D but how could I resist? To make this little list!"

"Yes, to make this little list..."

"Nine; you fail to get off your shoes, call 'Mommy' and then pout; seven's you exiting the bathroom, toothbrush in your mouth. You stand there for three minutes, talking 'bout dental hygiene; then ask me if by Tesla your own toothbrush I have seen!" She was practically singing the whole thing out of enjoyment!

"Well, yes then Marie, I think I get-"

"No dear, you could not possibly be close to get the gist! Not halfway through the list!"

"Of course..."

"Not halfway through the list!"

"'Ere's your coffee, sir!" Andrew put down my third cup of the day on the table and it seems like just in time; to have to continue listening to the list...

"Now after the long lecture you tip to me on your toes, try to give me a kiss. That's high up on the list! But instead you just shove that toothbrush right up in my nose, now you know why it is just four up on the list!"

"I shoved a toothbrush up your-"

"Now number six is where you pulled your shirt over your head; scream that you're going HAM then dance to music in your head! Five, I tell you what you did, you go 'girlfriend, that shit cray!'; ten's where you raid the freezer to find frozen fish filet!"

"Okay, that's it!" I reached over and snatched the list out of her hands. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Too much?"

"A tad, yes!" I knew I wasn't as irritable as I let her on but the list was... Not the thing I wanted to hear on our first date.

"You know what'll make you feel better?" She bit her bottom lip and slithered out of her seat and out of sight before I could answer.

"Marie, what are-"I tensed when I felt her hand snake up my thigh. "What are you doing?" I whispered frantically.

"Just making you feel better." Her voice was so sweet and innocent. I quickly looked around to see if anybody had noticed her sudden disappearance from the booth.

"Get back up here before somebody nohooo-"She quickly interrupted me by tugging at the seam of my jeans.

"Why don't you just sit back-"I could feel the button being undone. "-Relax-"The zipper was pulled down. "-And enjoy this." I gasped when she with one violent tug managed to undress me. The sensation of her rapid breaths on my exposed skin sent shudders down my spine and I thought I was going to have a fit.

"Marie, please..." I whispered, I felt like I was going to pass out just from the sensation of the airflow inches away from me. I closed my eyes, this was too much.

"People won't notice." It felt like with every breath she took, another ounce of blood left my head to physically show my arousal. "Well, good morning Jim."

* * *

_**Day ?: 6:00 A.M.**_

* * *

"Morning Jim."

"Morning Mr. Hammer sir, Mrs. Hammer ma'am." The security guard pressed a button and turned a key, the elevator doors in front of us sliding open. We nodded to Jim and stepped inside.

"I'm worried dear."

"About?" I didn't have to ask, I knew what was on her mind. It was on my too. It wasn't the first time we had had this conversation.

"Eddward, dear. I feel that we don't spend nearly enough time with the boy."

"We don't. The reason for which is his own protection."

"Gilbert-"

"Hannah." I turned to look at her. Beautiful as ever. "I know you feel bad about this, trust me, so do I." I sighed. "But-"

"I know, I know. I want him to live a normal life too."

"And he can't do that if he knows about this. I don't want our son's life to be the Agency."

"He has the right to know though, Gilbert. It's the Hammer legacy after all."

"I know, Hannah. I know."

"I just... Wish there was something we could do for him." We stood silent for a moment.

"How about this? Next week, the three of us rent a cabin up in the woods and stay there for a while. Just the family."

"I would love that, Gilbert." She leaned in a kissed me on the cheek. I smiled and once again silence overtook us.

"Do you ever wonder how our life-"

"If it wasn't for the Agency? Every day." The elevator slowed down, the doors slid open and Tom Robertson stepped inside between me and Hannah.

"Morning Tom, how's the morning?"

"Oh my god... You haven't heard..." First then did I notice the panicked and saddened look on his face. Hannah noticed it too and stiffened. There was something seriously wrong.

"No, we just came in."

"Heard what, Tom?" It probably came out sounding a little more threatening than I intended.

"2:21, local time, this morning, a car of ours exploded just outside of Seattle; cell phone detonator. There were no survivors."

"Tom." The more floors the elevator passed, the more the tension in the air thickened. "Who was in the car?"

"Omega and Mr. Wilson, sir." Hannah gasped and I literally felt the blood leave my brain.

"Tom. What about Zach and-"My wife whispered, afraid her voice wouldn't carry.

"They're safe; we had a team at their location seven minutes afterwards. They're in protective custody." This was too much. Just too much. Wilson and... Too many children were left orphans that day.

"Wilson... Is dead?"

"Yes, sir."

"Positive?" It was just wishful thinking; there was no way of misidentification.

"Unfortunately, sir."

"Tom." My wife spoke up.

"Yes ma'am."

"Why are you suddenly addressing Gilbert as 'sir'? And me as '_ma'am_'?"

"Because I just got a promotion, Hannah." That moment, the very moment where my life changed, there was only one consistent thought on my mind. '_I hope Eddward forgives me one day._'

"What are you talking about, Gilbert?"

"A promotion, Hannah dear. Isn't that right, Tom?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Director." Just like Hannah, I also spent every day thinking about how different our lives would have been without the Agency. That day was no exception.

* * *

_**Day ?: April 17, 2:21 A.M.**_

* * *

"Why have you dragged me out here, Max? It's freezing!" We were sitting on top of a smaller mountain, looking out over the Cul-de-Sac. There was a certain gloom over my friend and his eyes were fixed on the streets below.

"No, it's not." That's when I noticed that... He was right; it was actually quite warm outside. "And I didn't drag you out here Double-D, you dragged me here."

"That's ridiculous! It was clearly you who called me up!"

"How did we get here?" While yes, some of his questions were a tad unorthodox, that one was just plain weird.

"We walked up the trail there." I said and pointed over my shoulder.

"Did we? Do you remember it?"

"Well..." When I thought about it..."No, I don't remember... That's strange, I could've-"

"You don't remember because it didn't happen."

"What are you talking about? How would we have gotten up here otherwise?" He was making no sense whatsoever.

"Just as I am not the real Max Flywheel, we did not walk up that trail." What?

"What?"

"Haven't you- Are you- It's a dream! You're dreaming for heaven's sake!" I was? But everything seemed so... Real. "While it may feel that way in general, yes-"

"How did you-"

"Max Flywheel does not have the superpower to enter dreams. Ergo, I am your projection of him. Ergo, I am a part of you" He, it, whatever, still refused to look at me. "As for the realness, look at the paper in your pocket."

"What paper in my-"My fingers brushed against the list Marie had given me. But that-

"That was a dream based upon a memory. In reality, it happened yesterday if I'm not mistaken. Now look at the paper." I took it out, unfolded it and there it was, just as I had received it. I looked up, confused.

"It looks just fine."

"Look again." I did so and to my surprise, the letters on the paper were swing dancing to the music of an m using an l as a clarinet.

"So this is really a dream..."

"Or a really bad acid trip." For the first time, the projection looked up and it made me wonder if this is how I really saw Max Flywheel. His hair was standing on end, there was a nervous twitch to him and blue fire had replaced his irises. "Relax, it's not a nightmare. I'm actually quite flattered my eyes got to be on fire." His grin was almost maniacal.

"So... What are we doing here?"

"You tell me, it's your dream." While in reality, Max's grins usually turned into smiles after a few seconds, this version couldn't seem to stop grinning.

"Since you're part of my subconscious, that means you represent myself and don't actually know what the real Max Flywheel knows... Which means that there is no point in asking you about... Uhm-"

"The Agency."

"The Agency, thank you."

"You are correct in that assumption my friend." I sighed; this was about as useful as talking to the real thing. "I love how you keep on flattering me!"

"But if... Is there something you can tell me about... What I've seen tonight, what I've felt tonight!" It suddenly hit me and I remembered it; everything I had experienced from my great-great grandfather Eddward Hammer down to my father. Such detail, such a story. It must have come from somewhere and I'm not sure it was from my imagination.

"Not really, no. Since you saw all those things through the eyes of others, it's really difficult to determine whether or not those dreams were reality based or just big old blobs of pure imagination."

"If you don't know, how should I know?"

"I don't know."

"Third base!" We both exclaimed at the same time and smiled.

"Obviously, like my real life counterpart, I can't tell you a lot but that's because you already know most of it! But there is one thing I can tell you that even I don't understand."

"What is it?"

"Kit." And for the first time, he stopped grinning and a certain kind of sadness overcame him.

"Kit?" Suddenly, the ground started to shake and a faint rumbling was heard. There was a loud 'CRACK' and the street outside of our houses split in two, releasing a beam of light that reached the sky. "What is kit?" Another 'CRACK' and another beam of light, closer to the mountain this time.

"Kit. Is everything. Kit is the password. Kit. Is what's brought you here." 'CRACK' after 'CRACK' was heard until the light surrounded us, the only place visible was the very spot we were sitting on. The reflection checked its wrist watch. "Well, it's a quarter past the medulla oblongata so my educated guess is that you're about to wake up." It turned its head and smiled. "See you on the other side, Double-D." Wings erupted from its back and started to flap up and down.

"Wait!" It suddenly felt like time had stopped; I could hear the beginning of the final 'CRACK' that would tear this world apart. The reflection, now standing opposed to my sitting, looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. "You're a part of me, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"And you know my thoughts?"

"Every last one of them."

"Even the ones I've repressed?"

"Indeed I do."

"So can I ask you a question?"

"I don't see why not, you've already asked like seventeen."

"Do I love Marie Kanker?" The reflection smiled warmly, glad that I had asked that question.

"I think you already know the answer to that one my friend." And with that, time sped up again. The reflection took off, flying into the light while the final 'CRAAACK' split the very ground I was sitting on and I started to fall. Through the light I fell, seeing the reflections of my parents, Ed, Eddy, the Flywheels, Grace, Marie and a locked door. And just as certain I was that my fall was about to be stopped, I knew that door led to-

* * *

_**Day seven: April 23, 3:01 A.M.**_

* * *

"The Agency." I shot up, startled. It took me a few seconds to settle my breathing and a few more to calm down my many thoughts. I stretched my hand out and grabbed pen, pad and my cell phone from the nightstand. As I started to write down everything I remembered from the dream, I called the one person who could answer most of these questions.

"Yah?" I could hear several people in the background, like he had dropped out of a conversation to answer the call.

"What is the Agency?" I had barely finished the question before the voices went silent. This time I was almost certain he had hung up on me before I heard a crash on the other end.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" He had put down the phone because his voice was fainter this time but the crash following was just as loud.

"Calm down!" Spencer's voice was heard and mixed with the sound of glass shattering.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" Now I was severely worried, was it my question that had led to this outburst of emotion?

"Max...?"

"BRO, CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" Another crash was heard before somebody picked up the phone on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Linus?" The voice of Max and Spencer's younger brother came out of the receiver. "It's-"

"Double-D? I can't believe it, long since last!" His voice turned cheerful and the entire situation was nothing more than bizarre due to the shouts, screams and the sound of smashing furniture in the background.

"Indeed Linus! I would ask you how you are but I do suspect Max could use some assistance."

"Nah, it's cool, Spence and Simon got him."

"Well that's... Good I guess."

"Yeah, he's a little... Tense. I don't blame him though..." His voice trailed away as if he was momentarily distracted. "What'd you say to get him like this?"

"I asked him what the Agency is." Once again, I had the feeling I had been hung up on. Then a sigh split the silence.

"Shit. Uhm-"He pulled the phone away from his mouth. "Olivia." Though muffled and faint, I heard him call out to the fifth Flywheel sibling. Remember when I told you about odd things and coincidences? This was one of those things; while I hadn't had the best contact with the Flywheels since they left Peach Creek a few years back, I had never heard of or seen all five siblings together since the day they left Peach Creek as residents. Something was up here. "You there?" Linus' voice returned.

"Yes."

"Max will meet you tomorrow, at Jones', two o' clock. Sound good?" Somehow, I knew that wasn't a question.

"Actually, I have-"

"You'll be excused from math; does it sound good?" The cheerfulness in his voice was long gone; a dead serious tone had been adopted instead.

"Yes." I looked down at the pad where names, dates and locations had been scribbled down. But I found that one word had been subconsciously circled several times

"Good. Get some rest, school in the morning." That word...

"Wait! What is 'kit'?" But it was too late; Linus had hung up for real this time. This tangled web of questions was growing bigger and bigger with every day, like the shadows on the wall were moving in to finally get the better of me. I hadn't spoken to Ed or Eddy in a while. I didn't feel secure enough to open up to Marie this soon. My parents hadn't contacted me in a while. My sister was off 'doing business' as usual but even if she was here, I don't think it would have been much of a comfort.

And for the first time in eight years, I truly felt alone and abandoned in my big empty house.


	8. Silence in the Library

**Chapter 8 – Silence in the Library**

* * *

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good and own everything in this story except for anything associated with the Ed, Edd n Eddy franchise or the city of San Francisco.

* * *

_**Day eight: April 24, 11:44 A.M.**_

* * *

I hadn't seen Marie since our date. While, yes, less than 48 hours doesn't seem like much for two people to spend away from each other, it was as if I had gotten my first taste of love for Marie Kanker and... I needed more. Max was right; I was hooked and I needed another fix, desperately.

Unfortunately, she hadn't shown up for school the previous day and I didn't know if she was there that day since our schedules were incredibly mismatched; Thursday was one of the days we didn't share any classes. I sighed and let my bag fall to the floor with a '_thump_'. Mrs. Mortemore shot a glare at me over her glasses but didn't say anything; on warm spring days like that one, most if not all students decided to study for the final exams outside. It wasn't unusual that I was one of those students, usually trying to assist Ed and Eddy with whatever homework they couldn't do haphazardly the night before handing it in. But there is something magical about the solitary of an empty library when the thoughts pile up like a stack of pancakes on Saturday... Mornings...

...

Good lord.

I-

...

When I was younger, _a lot_ younger than during most of our 'Edscapades', I used to awaken to the smell of pancakes filling every corner of the house on Saturday mornings. I'd hastily make my way down the stairs in my pajamas to greet my parents in their respective robes and loving smiles. We'd then proceed to sit down in front of the television to watch the cartoons; I remember Father being more excited about them than I was.

Afterwards, I'd bury my nose in a book while they'd watch the news and discuss whatever was going on at work. Mother worked every other Saturday so I was given the choice to either spend the day with Ed and Eddy or do something with Father; the choice was often influenced whether he was taking care of errands. Whatever happened during the day, we always had a big family dinner we all helped cook up and-

...

I'm sorry; nostalgia washed over me for the briefest of moments. But... How could it not? I would rather dive straight into the waves while I can before I have to tell you... The end of this story. How Ed and I ended up chasing our once best friend Eddy McGee from our childhood street.

Where was I?

Uhm...

Oh, yes! I was sitting comfortably in one of the library's enormous armchairs, opening a book on the weaponry history of 19th century Russia. Don't think it was the sort of thing I read for fun... Anymore; it was for a report on a famous gun maker. But my mind was elsewhere... Most definitely with Marie Kanker.

It took me five minutes to realize I had read the same sentence about Doctor Pavlovich's relationship with his wife about thirty times.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I had to get her out of my head somehow; it certainly wasn't acceptable that she had a negative influence on my school work. But at the moment... I would rather spend the lunch break chatting with Marie than read about how Pavlovich's first gun, The Seagull, nearly blew his right hand off.

It seemed rushed. It felt rushed. That in one afternoon, the afternoon Grace came back, I would forgive Marie for years and years of torment and accept her as a friend. To within a week be... Well, dating her.

Curious behavior indeed on my part. Even more so on her part. To just one afternoon come around and- Could this be another case of reverse psychology?

It's quite possible of course. The Kankers proved to be quite tricky in their pursuits of us Eds. Why, I remember the last time they chased us and- No, wait. It was the time before that when Lee and May caught a hold of Eddy and Ed while Marie-

Marie just stood leaned against a tree.

What the devil?

I searched my brain for every frightening encounter we had had with the Kankers but not one appeared in my head within the last four years that ended unhappily for me. As a matter of fact, I don't think Marie had been acting aggressively 'passionate' against me since... By George, I think we all must have been thirteen the last time Marie chased after me. Yes, I remember it clearly; we took refuge in Eddy's brother's room while the Kankers systematically wrecked his house for an entire hour while we were cowering in there like we were stuck overnight in Jurassic Park. Eddy, even though he was as thoroughly disturbed as I was by the entire episode, nicknamed it 'the Tittie Tornado' since the sisters were... Ahem, developing physically.

Thirteen... No, wait, we were fourteen! Or, it was the year we were going to turn fourteen! I remember because a month or so afterwards, the Flywheels moved back to New York. Huh. I do beg your pardon; I seem to have told you that they moved two-three years ago while that is obviously not the case. Four years... Seems like it was yesterday we waved them off; the entire Cul-de-Sac gathered for once. Sans the Kanker sisters. Well, May and Lee at least; I spotted Marie standing in an opening to the woods. But I figured that was to see what all the commotion was about.

But what had changed? Why had she suddenly stopped chasing me after... 'The Tittie Tornado'? Had she simply given up her romantic pursuit, seeing how fruitless it was? No, that was definitely not it. The Marie Kanker I grew up with was no quitter, nothing of the sorts. So what had changed her entire demeanor towards me; from chasing me in and out of basically every nook and corner of Peach Creek to just appearing with her sisters but not joining in on the chase?

"Hello sweetie."

The reaction was instant. The whisper inches away from my ear gave me such a fright that the heavy and forgotten book in my hands flew into the air at the same time I gave out a startled yelp. Barely had Mrs. Mortemore begun one of her famous shushings before the book landed on the floor with a loud 'BANG'. Unprepared for the noise, she leaped at least a feet into the air; the stack of paper in her hands flying everywhere. I quickly dove down and grabbed the book off of the floor, spun around and grabbed my bag with my left hand while I grabbed a hold of the giggling Marie Kanker with my right. My dash towards the exit was cut short when a violent tug made me airborne for a second.

"Pretty Boy, with me!" She whispered and I quickly followed her as we ran for our lives to the back of the library, towards one of the three study rooms Mrs. Mortemore basically forced Principal Antonucci to fund. "Step inside my office!" She threw open the door and dove inside, leaving me to close the door with extreme carefulness.

We quickly hit the floor and pressed ourselves against the door.

"So-"I quickly threw a finger against her lips; boy, was this a flashback to 'TTT' or what?

* * *

_**A day back in the days: 2:24 P.M.**_

* * *

"I'm scared, Eddy!" Ed whispered frantically, barely finishing the sentence before Eddy slammed a hand across his mouth while placing a finger against his lips. While sitting against the door wasn't the smartest idea, we didn't dare to move since we could almost hear the crazed hormones of the Kanker sisters, buzzing on the other side as they stalked by.

* * *

_**Day eight: April 24, 12:07 A.M.**_

* * *

Somehow, the fear I felt during 'TTT' appeared out of nowhere; even though the original cause of that fear was currently sitting next to me, grinning mischievously. I gave her a puzzled look and she nodded downwards. In the narrow space between us, our hands were still linked. A blush spread across my face as she just laughed quietly and puckered her lips against me.

"..." Suddenly, I felt a presence behind us and the shadow blocking the light that was seeping in through the small window in the door confirmed it; Mrs. Mortemore was on the other side of the door, peering in. I looked to my left to see that Marie had stopped her breathing while keeping her eyes closed. I decided to do the same, silently halting my respiratory system. It felt like we sat there for hours, the looming feeling of danger somewhere behind us. Just as it felt like my lungs were going to explode violently, rapid steps were heard on the other side of the door, moving away. I quickly drew a deep breath, Marie doing the same. She pulled back her hand, not without saddening me a bit, and buried it in her bag, quietly rummaging around before pulling out a note pad. I quickly caught on to what she was doing and pulled out a pen from my pocket, handing it to her. She grinned thankfully before scribbling something down as noiselessly as possible and handing both pen and pad to me.

'_Sweetie, no way could we have had escaped out of the main exit!_'

'_I say, it seemed like the only option at the time!_'

'_God, even your handwriting's sexy._' I looked up with, what I can only imagine was, a furious blush to which she bit her bottom lip and smiled slyly.

'_Right... Back at you?_'She snickered quietly.

'_Anyway, the Vulture usually takes a break in bout 30 or 40 minutes._' A quick glance at my wrist watch confirmed my fears; I was definitely going to miss my next class.

'_There goes my perfect attendance out the window!_'

'_Relax Hot Stuff, I highly doubt Mrs. Masters gonna report the one time you're not there._' Not that it's important to the story but she later turned out to be correct. '_Besides, she's probably trying to reverse her ongoing menopause just to make some genius babies with you, Mr. Top of the Class. And it's not like you actually learn something in her class; the one thing I've learned all year is that before the settlers, Peach Creek was called "Demos Correr" by the natives._' For the life of me, I didn't understand how she dared to be so open, to make such remarks. Had it not been for the small, caring smile on her face, I probably would've taken that as an insult.

'_How did you know I'm top of Mrs. Masters' class?_'

'_Come on, like one needs to go through your records to know that._' Why would anyone do- No, she couldn't have- No. Oh dear god.

'_When did you go through my records?!_' She actually looked a bit sheepish here.

'_Back in February..._'

'_How?_'

'_This here_' She made a sweeping gesture across the small room; nothing much, a table, chair, desktop lamp and a bookshelf. '_is my safe haven. I hang out here before school, after school, sometimes during class when I wanna do homework, write stories or just listen to music._'

'_You write stories?_' I looked up at her in surprise and she shrugged.

'_Sometimes; they're mostly just things using characters that already exist in like a TV show._'

'_I would love to read one sometime._' I gave her an honest smile and she actually blushed!

'_I'd like that._' She snatched the pad back. '_Anyway, there was this one afternoon back in February when I fell asleep in here 'cause May and Lee kept me up all night with some shit about a lip stick. So I wake up and it's like a quarter past midnight._'

'_Did you call someone?_'

'_Who could I call? Call any faculty; they'd think I was robbing the place! Since cheap ass Antonucci only installed security systems on the doors and windows leading in and out of the school, I was free to roam the place! So I picked the lock to the archives and did some research; not only on you, Cutie Pie. X_'

'_Who else?_'

'_Well, myself, obviously, my sisters, Ed and Eddy, Kevin, Nazz and the Flywheels. Then I got bored and danced with the skeleton in the science lab to the 'Moulin Rouge!' soundtrack._' I loved how free minded she was; to freely admit something like that without being ashamed. I admire that about her.

'_If you pardon my nosiness, what did you find out about the Flywheels?_' Yes, it's incredibly rude and while Marie had violated all of our privacies, I was quite curious to see what she found about the ever mysterious Flywheels.

'_Not much; born in New York same year as us. Max Christopher, allergic to cats, noted as a calm, pleasant young man. Simon David, hay fever, noted as a polite, albeit a bit quiet, young man. Linus Matthew, noted as a pleasant, social and polite young man. And last but not least, Olivia Aurora, noted as a rather shy and withdrawn young woman. I really didn't get the need to call them 'young man/woman'; they were 14 leaving this place!_' She paused regularly while writing this as if remembering the facts as she went along.

'_Impressive you remembered all that. What about Spencer?_'

'_Zip, couldn't find her file anywhere._'

'_Curious._'

'_Eh, some lazy schmuck probably lost it._' That was the most likely possibility; Peach Creek High School wasn't famous for its devoted staff.

'_Most probable, yes._' I paused. '_May I ask you a question?_'

'_Shoot, cutie._'

'_How is it you stopped participating in your sisters' chases of us Eds?_' She read it and sighed softly.

'_Advice. From a good friend. Made me realize that if I really felt something for you, I should just courage up and tell you. But I couldn't. I just couldn't. I was... Afraid, I guess._' She showed me what she had written before continuing. '_Afraid of a real rejection, that you'd actually use the word "no" if I confessed my feelings in any other way except the childish way I used to. Let's face it, I'm not the prettiest girl around, flawed as fuck and on the surface, we have barely anything in common._' I handed her the pad and she paused before continuing, nibbling on the pencil while she thought. In normal cases, I would focus on the fact that she was transferring saliva onto _my _pencil. In _this _case however... Let's just say it led me away from thinking about her confession and down a trail of thoughts of a rather _sexual _nature, affecting me both psychologically and... Ahem; physically. Inappropriate? Yes. Raging hormones of a teenager? Yes.

I jumped when she poked me with the pad.

'_So I took the advice to heart and I stopped harassing you. Of course you ran anyway, why wouldn't you? But I waited and hoped that one day; you'd see that I was growing up in a way. Yeah, I could just have left you a note or something but I took the coward's way out. It was like every time you ran, I was relieved because it gave me another day, another week to hope there was still a chance you'd at least be my friend or something. I was almost giving up but then my sisters ran you down last Thursday so I saw maybe my last chance to courage up and at least apologize for all the creepy ass shit I've put you through over the years. But... even if you've forgiven me for all that, it's gonna take some time before I forgive myself, Cutie Pie._ _By the way, what you staring at?_'I blushed; had I really been that obvious?

'_... Well, you._'

'_Why?_' What a question; did she really have to ask?

'_Because you're beautiful._' She read the sentence and her brow instantly furrowed.

'_No I'm not._'

'_Yes, you are!_'

'_You serious?_' The look of childlike surprise was... close to heartbreaking; that she didn't see herself the way I saw her. Deciding that words were nowhere near as effective as actions, I leaned over and kissed her. And bang; my brain melted. We morphed together into one, a single sentient being. One mouth, one tongue, one love.

My hands travelled upwards, caressing her arms before cupping her face. I pulled back the slightest, forehead against forehead with our eyes closed. Out of my uneven, unsteady breathing came a single, whispered word.

"_Yes_."

* * *

_**Day eight: April 24, 1:51 P.M.**_

* * *

We ended up getting caught, of course, after Marie... expressed her enthusiasm a bit too loudly. Safe to say, Mrs. Mortemore was mortified to find us in one of the study rooms in a... Compromising position. We managed to make a hasty escape while she was frozen in shock, gripping the door frame for support. I knew very well that the punishment was coming, most likely the next day but I couldn't care less. Walking down the sidewalk, hand in hand with Marie, I felt more alive than ever had. It was like every time my heart beat, it pumped out more and more love for her. Clichéd and foolish it may sound. But it wasn't. It was anything but.

"So, you're finally getting some answers out of Flywheel?" I decided to bring her to my meeting with Max; she was certainly entitled to hear his explanation since they were obviously friends to some degree.

"Linus would certainly have me believe so."

"He really went apeshit when you mentioned whatever the hell 'The Agency' is?"

"It certainly appeared so."

"Weird. Must be some serious shit." We rounded a corner and sighted Jones' Café. Although, there was one thing that stood out that day. In front of the entrance stood a man holding a bunch of helium filled balloons. The thing was the man's sense of fashion; he was dressed in a long rain coat, shirt and dress pants with a top hat pushed down on over a curly mop of red.

"Okay..."

"What the fuck?" Marie certainly shared my curiosity over what was going on. A few ten feet away from the door, he noticed us and I saw him sneak a glance at our linked hands.

It was like flipping a switch.

He threw a hand up to his mouth and started to wolf whistle enthusiastically as if he was trying to communicate with us. When we met his joyful attempt at conversation with frightened and irritated stares, he first pointed to me, then Marie, before whistling some more, including a brief piece from 'The Wedding March'. I smiled politely at him; from what I understood, he thought it was wonderful that Marie and I were together.

"Gee, thanks..." Marie accepted a balloon the man offered her, albeit a bit skeptically. We nodded to the fellow before pushing open the door.

'_**HONK HONK HONK**_'I threw a quick glance over my shoulder to see that he had pulled out an old fashioned bulb horn which he honked while waving us goodbye.

"What a freak." Marie said, not caring whether or not the man heard her.

"A bit on the eccentric side, I'll admit. Probably one of Andrew's ideas to bring in kids." It wouldn't have been the first time an idea of Andrew's was applied to the café. Safe to say, while the speaker system had been Andrew's idea, so had 'The Tuesday Meatloaf Special' been and it probably would have succeeded had he not used the same recipe the school cafeteria did...

"Ice cream! Tootsie fruitsie ice cream!"

"Then I sure hope that's another one." Behind the counter stood an Italian man stuffed into a worn down suit topped off with a Tyrolean hat, wielding an ice cream scoop.

"Hey lady, you want ice cream?" He waved the scoop... I never thought I'd form this sentence but can you wave an ice cream scoop seductively?

"No, I'd like-"

"Peanuts?" He quickly extended a hand from underneath the counter and held up a small, white bag of... Well, peanuts.

"For fuck's sake... I want a coffee, black, with extra sugar on the side and he'll have a latte, sugar on the side. You got that?" To say that Marie was annoyed with the man was an understatement.

"Sure do, boss!" He turned to the coffee pots and started to pour this and that.

"Where the hell do they find these guys?" She turned towards me and we made our way to the same booth we had been sitting in two days earlier.

"I honestly don't know." I suddenly noticed that there was someone sitting in the very booth we were making our way towards. So, the obvious solution was of course to move to the next booth. That proved to be a bit difficult.

"Say, you seem like just the type of young people I'm looking for!" Marie bumped into me when I suddenly stopped; the man in the booth had thrown out a leg to stop me. "My name is Spaulding, Captain Spaulding and I have here the very thing you two kids need!"

"Patience?" Marie was grinding her teeth next to me; the suit bearing man in front of us had an unlit cigar in his mouth, hidden under a ridiculously big black moustache with a pair of matching eyebrows over a pair of glasses. He pulled out a paper from his inner pocket.

"You two look too young to be doctors but I can refer you to a guy. No, what I want to offer you is a once in a lifetime chance for an all time covering insurance!"

"I really don't think-"I began.

"My name is Spaulding, Captain Spaulding!" Now I was getting really scared, I was nowhere near qualified enough physically or mentally to be in a brawl. This man was obviously not- Did he just wink to Marie? "So, this insurance will cover you, your sisters, your cousins, your cousins' sisters and their respective cousins, tracing its way back to you! Sign now and it covers the very ground you walk on! Sit down and you cover the bench! You'll have to gain some weight to cover the whole bench but we'll cover the details later!"

"I- We should-"To my surprise, Marie quietly slipped into the booth, opposite the man. She gave me a curious look as if it was obvious that I was to sit down as well.

"Finally, do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?" I wasn't given much choice however before I was gently bumped into place next to Marie by none other than the man with balloons standing outside the entrance, this time without the balloons in his hand.

"Wait, he serves here?" I was just as surprised as Marie. The balloon man didn't answer but instead pulled out an envelope from one of the rain coat's inner pockets and whistled once as he handed it to Spaulding.

"Apparently, I've been ordered to be in court on the 11th!" He leaned closer to the paper he had pulled out of the envelope. "What kind of a law firm is...? I can't even read what it says!"

"Here's-a our card!" Out of nowhere, the Italian appeared and very well held out a card towards the puzzled Captain.

"What's this? 'Ravelli, Ravelli, Ravelli and Ravelli'?" A whistle and the balloon man held out another card. "'And Ravelli'? You're five Ravellis?"

"No relation."

"Oi, Tootsie Fruitsie!" All eyes landed on Marie. "What happened to our coffee?"

"Ask-a my partner." He motioned towards the balloon man who lifted his hat in a greeting.

"How? He never says anything!"

"He's-a my silent partner!" As if on cue, the balloon man starting digging around in his pockets and pulled out... Our two cups of coffee complete with saucers. To top it off, he took off his hat and pulled out a handful of sugar cubes and placed next to our cups.

"Thank... You..." The entire situation felt so surreal, I was frightened that this was going to end in some form of kidnapping.

"Hey, Silent Red! Where's mine?" Spaulding remarked. 'Silent Red' went inside his pockets again and instead of a coffee cup, he placed a small sippy cup in front of the Captain.

"Cream?" The Italian asked and Red held out the bulb horn from earlier for some reason.

"Two honks." Spaulding opened the small container up and very well, Red honked the horn twice and cream trickled out of it. I was floored; was the ghost of Salvador Dalí haunting me?

"So, what are we talking about?" The Italian sat down next to Spaulding while Red pulled up a chair next to the table.

"Well, I was just telling this nice young couple how I represent the law firm Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel and was thinking that they would make fantastic witnesses in my latest case." I was confused, that's not what he- Wait. Did he just- No. Spaulding- No. But- Red-

...

Dear lord.

"Messrs Flywheel I presume."I could see all four smiles around the table growing wider before they all finally collapsed in a fit of laughter. How could I not have seen it?

"Sweetie, I had no idea they were gonna this, I swear." Marie leaned in and threw an arm around my shoulders; I felt like the little kid everybody was laughing at.

"I'm truly sorry for that whole thing but trust me when I say that we're not dressed like this to mess with you." I hadn't noticed that 'Captain Spaulding' had a New Yorker accent before Max had dropped it and reverted back to his usual voice. How could I not recognize that grin? Probably because his upper lip was covered in...

"Max, is that greasepaint?" I pointed to his face and he just waggled his eyebrows.

"The very finest!" With the accent and slightly lower pitch gone from his voice, Linus Flywheel was much easier to identify.

"And how are you, Simon?" I turned to 'Silent Red' and shook his hand; it had been quite some time since I had seen both Linus and Simon here in Peach Creek.

"He can't talk." Max pulled the glasses down on his nose and inspected the contents of the sippy cup.

"This whole thing is sort of a setup."

"A setup?"

"No, sorry, it's actually the result of somebody-"Linus turned and glared at Max. "Losing a bet that _somehow_ included Simon and me."

"It's just something we do sometimes." Max shrugged nonchalantly. "We bet on everything from small to outlandish things. In this case... I obviously lost."

"I'd say _we _lost, brother dear."

"I don't hear Simon complain."

'_**HONK**_'

"Oh, don't give me that!"

'_**HONK HONK HONK**_'

"You know I needed revenge after last time!"

'_**HONK HONK**_'

"Oh, like I didn't know you were gonna throw that in my face!" Linus opened his mouth to stop his brothers' argument but Marie beat him to it.

"So you guys dyed your hair... Over a stupid bet?" The otherwise blond heads that marked the Flywheel siblings had indeed been dyed; Max's black, Linus' brown and Simon's red.

"Yep." The three of them just grinned.

"Psychos."

'_**HONK**_'

"Oh, shut up!"

"So!" Max clasped his hands and looked at me. "Double-D, we're sitting here because I'm gonna tell you... Most of the things you should know."

"Most of the things?" I had a feeling it was going to be like that morning on the swings; Marie asking most of the questions, even though I was thinking them.

"Meaning, the things I know." He brought the sippy cup to his lips and took a sip. He smiled and nodded to Simon in approval. "Not bad, brother. Now, for the love of all that is holy, I love everyone at this table but you must all shut the hell up during the telling of this story! No questions! No comments! Which makes it so much easier since Simon isn't allowed _to _say anything."

'_**HOOONK**_'

"Oh, even Mom used to say you should become a damn sports commentator with those rapid fire comments of yours!" Linus retorted.

"Anyway!" Max took another mouthful of, what I hope was, coffee and cream. "My, our, parents worked for a department."

"A firm."

'_**HONK**_' Simon pulled out his phone and flashed us a photograph of an IKEA desk.

"The Agency." I added and there was a short pause where a considerable amount of tension appeared.

"Correct. Now, they handled information, information that in the wrong hands could bring on the downfall of the entire Western Civilization. And those hands are now trying to find that information. The entire problem is; my parents resigned from the Agency for their and our safety, that's why we moved here to Peach Creek five years ago."

"And when Dad got a promotion on his new job, we moved back to New York. Mom took up work as an air stewardess so she could work, you know, wherever." Linus filled in.

"Which is why we're able to travel like maniacal bastards."

"But as Max said, those hands are trying to get information out of people that have none; the very reason we've been reluctant to tell you about all this."

"See, I was going to tell you Friday but... I was jumped."

"_We _were jumped."

"All five of us, at the same time, all over the country. They were obviously gonna use us as hostages to get the info they wanted."

"But by a stroke of luck, we all broke free."

"Well, the three of us broke free; Spencer and Olivia apparently kicked all kinds of ass before walking away unharmed."

"And we have rather strong suspicions to believe that... Your sister's involved with the hands." I was sitting there, in a café, next to my girlfriend, who, just nine days ago, I would have run away from in fear, being told by a young man in greasepaint moustache and eyebrows, with whom I have a five year friendship, that my sister is threatening the national security. I don't even think Ed Wood would want to make a movie out of this.

"Why?" Another crack shot question by Marie.

"Over the course of the last couple of years have we heard the name 'Grace Hammer' appear more and more in our parents' work related conversation." The Tyrolean hat on Linus' head did not help with the absurdity of the situation.

"It wasn't until I came over to your house on Friday that I made the connection." Max looked... Sad. Sad that it had to be that way. Trust me, I was sad too. But I still hadn't gotten over the shock of having a sister that's a threat to the world.

"Do you know what information it is?"

"I can't even begin to imagine what kind of fucked up shit it must be." Max smiled and shook his head. "That's about everything you need to know, youngsters. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, I was going to tell you Friday but then... Well, after that, I, we, decided that it would be safer if nothing you knew."

"But... You know, it's your sister it concerns so we figured that you should at least know what's going on." Linus flashed a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, Max, why'd you flip your shit when Double-D asked you about The Agency?" I was thankful Marie was there; I don't think I could've formed a verbal sentence if I wanted to.

"Oh, that..." He looked down at the sippy cup, obviously a bit ashamed over the memory. "The bet we-"

'_**HONK**_'

"Aight, aight! The bet _I _made with Spence and Ol was that you wouldn't ever figure out that the name was _The Agency_. Obviously, I underestimated you."

"Yeah..." I felt that I was just barely hanging onto the conversation at this point.

"If I may wonder, how'd you find out?" Linus asked, curiosity shining in his eyes. Simon leaned closer as well; I could just imagine the two of them discussing theories of how I found out. It wouldn't surprise me if they made a bet over that too.

"It... Came to me in a dream."

"You serious, man?" Two pairs of eyebrows and a pair of greasepaint ones were raised in surprise.

"Well... Yes."

"That is... Heavy." I felt a sensation of success; it wasn't often you saw the Flywheels flabbergasted by something.

"There was..." I shook my head and pushed aside thoughts of Grace, and for some reason 'The da Vinci Code', to go back and focus on the dream. "I saw glimpses of my father's all the way to my great-great-grandfather's lives, _through _their eyes. And, according to the dream at least, I'm a descendant of one of the founders of The Agency. You... Wouldn't happen to know anything about that?" If there's such a thing like telepathic connections, the Flywheel siblings surely must have mastered it. Wide eyed in surprised, they looked from one another like they were having a conversation without opening their mouths.

"The only water in the forest is the river..." Linus mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking out loud..." He fell silent again.

"Unfortunately..." Max spoke up after a few moments of silence. "We don't know anything about the actual Agency; our parents haven't shared details with us about... Well, anything. So I mean, what you dreamed could very well be true and if it is... Let's just say this story just became a page turner."

"That's putting it mildly." Linus ran a hand through his hair and glanced upwards. "Definitely not used to this color yet."

'_**HONK HONK**_'

"So... Do you have any questions, Double-D? That we can answer, obviously?" Max pushed the now empty sippy cup along the table to Simon who put it in his pocket; they were wrapping this up.

"Not really..." I searched my brain but none of the questions I found had anything to do with the brothers in front of me; all were about Grace. There was suddenly a rapid beeping coming from Simon's wrist. He whistled thrice.

"You're right, we're running late." Linus scooted out of the booth, Max following him.

"It's nothing mysterious." Max added when Marie gave them a skeptical look. "Really; Spence and Ol just wanna see that we're actually carrying out... Well, this." He gestured to their clothes.

"The things you do for-a the people you love-a!" Linus grinned and winked before spinning around, heading for the exit.

'_**HONK HONK**_' Simon leaned in and shook Marie's hand while whistling short and rapidly then leaned back and grabbed mine, shaking it enthusiastically. He took a step back, clasped his hands, sighed heartwarmingly before... Stalking over to a window table, grabbing a man's donut, dipping it in the coffee belonging to the woman at the next table and following Linus out the exit.

"I just remembered, I have something for you, Double-D!" Max reached into the inner pocket of his suit.

"Please tell me you're not going to drug me. Again." He laughed wholeheartedly and even Marie snickered next to me at my deadpan comment.

"Oh, no! This is... Just something a friend of mine did. I think you'll find it... It'll make you think twice before doing some things, if I put it like that." Was he going to point a gun at me? He certainly made it sound like that. Instead of a firearm, even a weapon, he pulled out a folded piece of paper and placed it in front of me on the table. "Well, I must be going! I cannot stay, came to say; I must be going!"

"Wait!" A question suddenly popped up in my head; one that Max might be able to answer.

"Doing as requested."

"There is one question I have to ask, Max."

"Fire away."

"Do you know what 'kit' means or is?" Those greasepainted eyebrows shot up in surprise, his mouth opening the slightest. It almost appeared as if the life in his eyes went out and were replaced with a trace of... Sadness. He looked down, shuffling his feet before peering out the window where Linus and Simon seemed to be having an argument about... The balloons.

He studied them for quite some time, Marie and I joining him in fear that pressuring him on the issue would scare him away. The two brothers outside took to battle stances and they were practically reaching back to swing when a young, blonde woman walked by. Simon suddenly seemed to forget all about fighting and quickly held out a balloon to her. Insecurely, she accepted it before continuing. Not once did Simon take his eyes off her and then... He ran after her. With Linus running after him, struggling to keep the balloons in the small wind that was. They disappeared down the street with shouts in Italian, whistles and a seemingly endless stream of '_**HONKS**_'

A smile slowly crept across Max's face before evolving into a full force grin. He turned back to us and looked from me to Marie and back to me.

"Yes."

He bent his knees, spun around and walked out of the café, half hunched over. Marie and I just sat there in the sudden silence, our coffees untouched and unthought of.

"That was..." I began but my voice trailed away; there weren't words to describe the afternoon I had just experienced.

"Yeah." She nudged me softly after a while. I looked at her and she nodded against the paper Max had left in front of me. My hands reached out automatically and unfolded it, my mind was elsewhere. Elsewhere, _everywhere_.

**/watch?v=PZADHuUOjo4**

Nonsense, what else to except from him?

"What the- That's to a YouTube link, you write it in after the .com part."

"Hmm, wonder what it is." I still wonder. The paper's still in my pocket, untyped, along with Marie's list and the paper from her pad we were scribbling on in the library that day. Reminders of a life led, friendship and relationships tied. I need it. To remember that my life wasn't always sitting crouched together with Ed under a bridge. I could of course take Ed's or my own turned off Smartphone but I'm quite certain Grace is tracking us. I'm not being paranoid; I just _really _wouldn't put it past her to pull off something as such.

I just realized that I'm... Being a somewhat unreliable narrator. Because there was more to that day, things I haven't told you about, things I'm not going to tell you about. There are three reasons for that.

The first is something everybody does when they tell a story; you've probably done it a number a times. Sort out the boring details. I was doing things before I sat down in the library; I got up, brushed my teeth and went to several classes. But that's not part of the story, at least not an important part, and I doubt you'd want to hear about it anyway.

The second reason is another thing people do all the time; summarize. Do you really believe I only thought about Marie once during the entire day? The length of this entire story would not even be enough to measure the amount of times Marie appeared in my thoughts that day. I assume that sharing one of my less... Almost obsessive periods of thinking about her; being near her, holding her, kissing her, touching- Yes, I think you get my point.

The third reason is... I miss her. I miss her to the point of physical pain. To leave her behind in Peach Creek while I... Run. It was never meant to be like this. Never meant to end like this. So... My most valued memories with Marie, I may not share with you. Like the one in the library, notice how I cut it short? It's because right now... It's all I have. Have of her. And that is something I'm being selfish about and keeping to myself. I can't help but smile a little; the forces of the universe do work in mysterious ways. Seventeen days later and my eternal tormentor is the love of my life. Who would have imagined?

This must seem a bit inconsistent. That I'm overdramatizing this entire ordeal. I understand if you feel like that, I don't blame you. That day, that Thursday, I was a happy young man in a healthy relationship, my only trouble in the world being the mysterious affairs my sister was engaged in. That had always been a trouble so it didn't really matter at the moment.

As I sat there that afternoon with Marie; talking about everything from the absurdity of the Flywheels to school, laughing about the past, planning and speculating about the future, sneaking an innocent kiss every now and then, I was virtually clueless. Clueless about the fact that my whole world was about to burn. Death was staring me in the face.

That afternoon was the last time I saw Simon and Linus Flywheel.


	9. 21 Questions

**Chapter 9 - 21 Questions**

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 07:00 A.M.**_

* * *

With a surprisingly swift movement, I silenced the alarm clock and yawned. Friday. Finally.

There had been a time when I would have preferred the long and sombre halls of Peach Creek High School over my own empty house for a Saturday morning. Why, that time had been just two weeks earlier! But as I looked down upon the sleeping form resting on my chest, I couldn't wait for school to be over so I could blow that dump for the weekend.

Yes, one could definitely say Marie had rubbed off on me a little.

...

... I just realized how that might be perceived.

"Marie...?" I couldn't help but feel a little guilty; to wake such a peaceful creature must certainly be a crime against nature. But I knew that we couldn't well afford to stay home and take the day off, especially not Marie.

"Fuck off..." I was unable to take it personally; the last thing she had mumbled before falling asleep was to wake her from a safe distance.

"Paging Marie Kanker to reality..." We, especially I, felt we had gotten each other a lot closer, now more than comfortable being playful with each other. Something I never envisioned myself to be, not even when in lo-

"Go fuck yourself, I made breakfast yesterday..."

"That was yesterday, today is a new day!" I was speaking in a whispered hush, absolutely terrified of the consequences if I woke her head on.

"This day can go fuck itself too." She was clearly not planning on getting up any time soon. Determined to get her back to full consciousness without moving away from under her, I had to try something unorthodox. Something _really _unorthodox. Her own methods.

"Marie, are you sure you want me to go... Fuck myself?"

"Mmmhmm..."

"And you'll just stay here, sleeping?"

"Yeah, you do that and I'll... Something..." I swallowed down some excess nervousness; using words of the explicit nature has never been my strong side, Mother and Father made sure to raise me that way.

"I don't think you'd be able to..."

"Just watch me..." The whole thing would have to be over the top exuberant; too good to be true.

"Oh, I'm fairly certain you _could _but the question is; would you _want _to? Knowing that I, Eddward Double-D (I had to sneak in my name because I wasn't all that sure she knew who was bugging her), would be in the other room; slowly stripping down to the nude, caressing my sweaty skin with hands that should be yours before they work their way down my stomach until, finally, they can get a... Firm grip on my... Huge... Sensitive... Bulging..." Her eyes instantly shot open and before I could react or greet her, she had straddled me with a burning desire in her eyes I hadn't seen in years.

"I'm up, sweetie."

"Oh, good..." Now I was truly nervous; had I gone too far? What if my story had teased her into a state where she reverted back to her Ed-chasing days, not knowing when to stop? "But... I'm afraid we have to prepare for a day of learning; school starts in forty-five minutes." I pointed to the alarm clock with a shaky hand. She didn't even spare the poor thing a glance when she whooped it across the room, sparks flying everywhere when the wall socket came loose with it.

"Fuck that." She grinned mischievously. "And while you're at it-"

"Marie, I refuse to pardon whatever pun you were just about to make." We had briefly touched upon, if you'll pardon the pun, the subject of sexual relations last night but never went into deeper detail. "Besides, you said yourself you would start making an effort when it concerned school."

"Wouldn't you rather have me..." Never breaking eye contact, she slowly leaned down from her straddling position and started to nibble on my neck. "Make an effort on you?"

"Uhm..." I couldn't deny it, she certainly knew what she was doing; I was feeling my resistance being broken down, piece by piece. Not to mention the physical reactions her actions were bound to cause. "I- I don't-"

"Ssch... Let mommy kiss and make it all better..." Now her hands were taking on a life of their own; caressing my torso in a similar manner I described in my story. But... That would soon mean...

"Ma-haaa-rie-" The sharp intake of breath when she traced her finger across the seam of my pyjama pants didn't strengthen my argument all that much. "We- I- I want it to be special!" I was both terribly relieved and terribly disappointed when she disconnected from my neck to give me a confused look.

"What?"

"This! I mean, yes, of course, certainly; I'm not going to deny the fact that it would be nice, good, fantastic even..." I shook my head to disperse such thoughts; I wasn't just trying to convince Marie why sexual relations at that precise time was a bad thing, it was also necessary to convince _myself _why it wasn't convenient. "But... We could indeed give into our sexual lusts that come as a result of being hormonal teenagers-"

"I love it when you talk dirty."

"- But wouldn't it, instead of being a regrettable moment that came too soon, be of more interest to have a lifelong memory that was born out of love and a psychological desire as well as physical?" She just stared at me in disbelief.

"... So, what you're saying is; you wake me up at an hour God must've created as a mistake with promises of something huge and bulging, get me all hot and horny without even rubbing me out and expect me to go to school?" To say that my plan had backfired was an understatement.

"... I- Yes?" Oh, that did it.

"You better have a bitching breakfast done when I get out of the shower." In only one statement, she managed to severely punish me in three ways.

By taking a shower here, something she had opted against the previous times she had stayed over, and at this precise time insured me that if I didn't want to join her (which I of course did but... Safe to say, I was _very _confused about the whole situation), I wasn't going to have time to shower before school which interrupted a routine I had practiced all throughout my academic career.

By, what I could only assume was a demand, letting me prepare breakfast alone, she robbed me of an activity that I had absolutely loved the mornings she had previously awakened in my house; making breakfast together. It was something that had always been special to me, dating back to the Saturday mornings with my parents.

And of course, by jumping off me with a huff and stripping off the tank top and borrowed pyjama pants, she forced me to watch her bare behind sway back and forth as she strutted out the room.

What was it a 15-year old Eddy had recommended for situations like this?

'_Starving children, dirty dishes, an unclean bathroom floor that Marie's naked feet walk across to reach the shower... My shower... Marie standing naked in my shower... Focus! Wilfred rolling in mud, a B+, a week's worth of detention slips, maybe sit in the far back with Marie, the teacher leaves the room to make some copies... Marie takes off her- Get it together, Eddward! The junkyard, Ed crawling through... That's it! Ed! Ed's hygienic state! Taking a peek under Ed's bed! Ed's gravy filled bathtub! Ed's lucky cheese!_'

It's not that I had never dealt with arousal before, no; it has just never been that urgent to keep it under control as when a beautiful naked woman was taking a shower in my bathroom. I sighed and laid my head back down on the pillow; everything in this situation was new to the both of us and as per usual, I had to be the voice of reason, for myself especially. For the more I learned about her, the more I got to know who she really was, the more I fell for her.

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 1:34 A.M.**_

* * *

"Heavens, look at the time!" Was that correct? Had we really been playing countless games for the last three hours?

"So?" She looked up from her cards at the alarm clock and shrugged.

"So?! There's school in the morning!"

"Sweetie, this is usually too early for me to go to sleep." That explained a thing or two about the Kanker sisters' presence, or _lack thereof_, during the first two or three classes.

"Too... Early..."

"Look, if you want, we can get into bed but there's no way in hell I'm gonna fall asleep right at this moment. Gin." She threw down her cards and raised a triumphant eyebrow.

"... I thought we were playing Go Fish." She smirked. "Very well then; would you like to attend the bathroom first?"

"Why?"

"Well... Various needs might need to be, not to mention maintaining a good dental hygiene!" My suggestion was met with a look of disbelief.

"Do I look like the kind of chick who walks around with a toothbrush in her pocket?"

"I have several you can use! The... Blue one in the green mug is unused."

"You sure? I don't wanna shove something into my mouth that may or may not've been used to clean Ed's ears or some shit." The mere thought made me shudder.

"Oh, I can assure you that no Ed, other than myself, has ever used a toothbrush for any purpose under this roof."

"Not surprised." She stood up and cracked her back. "Be right back." I started to gather up the cards as she exited the room, that's when the thought hit me.

'_I'm going to sleep in the same bed as Marie._' Apart from the nervousness that I had by then gotten used to feeling around her, I also felt... Excited. While we had indeed fallen asleep in each other's arms watching movies the previous weekend, it had happened quite by chance, on the couch and we had been fully dressed throughout the night.

This was nothing like that.

This was planned. In a bed. _My _bed. In appropriate sleeping attire. Bare skin against bare skin. _Her _bare skin against- I think you get the picture.

I had never slept in the same bed as another person. Oh, sure; I had fallen asleep _with _other people in a big pile, I had certainly slept in other people's beds but never with them. People in this case being Ed and Eddy. Truth be told, every time there was a sleepover at Eddy's place, it was he and Ed who shared his king-sized bed while I settled in on the white shag carpet. Unhygienic, perhaps, but not even close to the unsanitary conditions of sharing a bed with Ed.

And doing so for the first time would certainly mean that you were not accustomed to the cramped spaces, resulting in very close and intimate contact. Sharing a bed with a magnificent specimen of the female kind (perhaps if I took the more scientific approach to it, the whole situation would be less... Erotically charged) certainly wouldn't lessen the contact but instead... Maybe cause contact in other places as you get... Excited over finally being able to go to sleep after a long day.

'_Okay, just remember what Eddy told you once; if us guys ever find ourselves in bed with a chick that we maybe wanna take things slow with, all we gotta do is-_'

"Yo, you're up."

'_- All we gotta do is... * incoherent mumbling*_' Whatever golden advice I had once been given was lost.

I was on my own.

"Oh, I'm gonna need some shorts or something unless you want me sleeping in my panties."

All... On my own.

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 08:07 A.M.**_

* * *

Having decided that announcing our relationship to the public was something to avoid for now, mostly worried how Lee and Eddy would react, we engaged in a charged kissing session before leaving my house; saying our goodbyes by the bicycle rack with a quick peck. With that, I entered the school while Marie would hang back for few minutes.

Within the first seven minutes of AP Psychology, every word Mrs. Sigismund said entered through one ear and exited the other. I just couldn't stop thinking about her. Marie that is, not Mrs. Sigismund.

We had talked into the early hours of the morning, only to fall asleep together; half-naked in bed. And... I didn't know, was it possible that... I maybe... Loved her?

I mean, the Marie Kanker I had seen in the past eight days was definitely a different one from the crazed, ravenous girl who had chased me as an innocent pre-teen and obviously had been for some time, going by the fact that she _hadn't _chased me since I was just that; an innocent pre-teen. This young woman, this personification of a goddess, was intelligent, artistic and most importantly, emotional. Not overly emotional (as some would have call Jimmy) but in check with them, capable of letting them show if she wanted to. It may sound strange but consider that for six years, I had been sure Marie wasn't capable of any other emotion than anger and glee; not to mention Ed's theory that the Kanker sisters completely lacked tear ducts.

I wouldn't go as far as to call her soft though; she had definitely reverted back to her role as a brash and gruff Goth girl a few times, most notably around my sister.

Grace... I hadn't even given her a thought since my talk with the Flywheel brothers the previous day. Could it be true? I'll be one of the first ones to admit that she wasn't the most honest and law-abiding person there was (I once received a postcard from a local Orlando police station where she and Steph had driven in a very much stolen car from a very angry Mayor of Vancouver) but a threat to the national security? Although...

I always assumed she was just looking for challenges that bit by bit increased in difficulty and therefore illegality, her hacking being a prime example; it started out as a fun thing a boyfriend showed her but turned into a way to enter the school system to change the grades of her and her friends before finally breaking through the heavy security of the Pentagon.

I guess... The world was never enough for Grace. When we played as children, she always imagined us cutting our way through far deep rain forests and jungles, ending up running from the native population, bob sledding across sub-zero tundras with polar bears trying to tear us apart and of course, her favorite, building a rocket that would take us to the moon where the two of us could live peacefully in a little house of our own; where the world couldn't reach us, where no one could harm us.

We were so close... She cared for me, cooking dinner when Mother and Father had to work late, reading me exciting bed time stories where she'd combine a book from Father's library and one of Ed's comic books that always seemed to be lying around, she walked me to school on my first day, teaching me the different and most sensitive pressure points of the human body in the case I would get picked on.

But as I went on to elementary school, she went on to Junior High School where she instantly fell out of step; constantly clashing with teachers, fellow students, even the principal on a weekly basis. Often skipping when she deemed it a too beautiful day to be 'cooped up in that hell hole of a prison', not a stranger to pranks (usually of the chemical kind to the delight of Mr. Ridenhour who never had a bad word against Grace) and a frequent instigator of food fights which sometimes devastated the cafeteria to the point where renovation was of necessity. Safe to say, it didn't come as a surprise when she was finally expelled after a prom prank went horribly wrong and the gymnasium flooded, a tidal wave carrying away the art teacher who was never seen again, to the point of complete devastation; the worst 'accident' in the history of the school (until the prom where my dancing with Nazz set of a chain reaction which lead to the complete collapse of the very same and rebuilt gymnasium)

Grace was never unintelligent though, no; once it was time for me to ascend into Junior High, no teacher was surprised to find that I was my sister's brother, always telling me how her school work was way above average and had it not been for her almost constant absence in class, she would've finished with the best grade the school had ever seen.

This is where her hacking skills came in.

You see, it was around the time Grace got expelled that our parents were promoted the first time and came home less and less, to the point where we barely saw them on the weekends. Grace took this the hardest; I remember coming home on more than one occasion from summer shenanigans with Ed and Eddy to find her on the living room floor crying, broken frames of family pictures strewn out around her. I would crawl up into her arms and there we would sit, two children who seemed forgotten by their parents and the world. Eventually, she would begin telling long stories about how Child Services would come and get us; shipping us out into foreign lands and exotic locations where we'd have the most wonderful adventures, just like when we were kids. Just the two of us.

Nothing of this ever happened. What did happen was a night that would haunt me for years to come.

"Psst!" I jolted, pulled out of my thoughts by a poke in the side. On my left, Nazz was holding out a note pad, not unlike the one Marie and I had used during our conversation in the library. I had been so occupied with my own thoughts since I bid Marie farewell, I hadn't even remembered that Nazz was in this class; even less noticed she was sitting at the desk next to mine. With a quick look at Mrs. Sigismund, I accepted the pad.

'_What's up dude? You're like the only one who ever takes notes in this class! :O_' Nazz had once been the affection of every boy of the Cul-de-Sac (sans Jimmy and Rolf) and I wouldn't say that had changed much since; puberty had certainly done wonders to her, making her a very attractive prey for the male part of the student body. Her relationship with Kevin, though over since before her devastating party, protected her from anything more than oogling eyes and whispers of how it would be to 'hit that', knowing that the quarterback could and would easily make history of whoever approached her with amorous intentions.

'_Oh, just a lot on my mind._' I thought that a short and uninterested answer would end the non-verbal conversation abruptly; not that Nazz was an unpleasant person to speak with but... Because I would rather spend the class thinking about Marie. I was wrong though; she quickly scribbled something down before discreetly handing the pad back.

'_Hey, is your sister back? Think I saw her like the other day. :)_'

'_Yes, she is. Not sure for how long though._'

'_You think you could keep her a little? Jo's coming home next weekend and I know they used to be tight. ;)_' I stifled a snort, wondering if Nazz knew just how close our sisters had been.

'_Oh, I don't think that should be a problem. I'm certain Grace would love to meet Jo again._'

'_Cool! :D You've done the Chekhov report yet?_'

'_I was researching it in the library yesterday before Mari-_' I caught my mistake; we weren't _officially _together. Well, we were but not to the public's eye. Nazz gave me a curious look when I quickly erased the last two letters. '_I was researching it in the library yesterday before Max called, requiring my assistance._'

'_Oh yeah Eddy said he was back! :) How is he? :D_'

'_Oh, like Max always is. Simon and Linus likewise._'

'_Linus too! Oh, I miss them so sometimes. :(_'

'_I would agree they did add a certain charm to the Cul-de-Sac._'

'_Plus they bridged together us kids and you Eds again_._ ;)_' It was true; the Flywheels moved in just after Eddy had once again managed to enrage the kids of the neighborhood to the point of expulsion from Cul-de-Sac activities. As they came, they ignored whatever bad blood had existed previously; often throwing together group activities quite by chance with Spencer and Linus bringing the kids while Simon and Max would bring us Eds. Something that lasted long after they had left and only subsided Junior year when studies became too much.

'_That is true._'

'_It feels like we haven't done something for like years dude! Remember how we always used to have pool parties and stuff around this time? :D_' I certainly did remember the pool parties but definitely not in April, it was always during the warmest days of summer. I didn't feel like correcting her though; this was more about reminiscing in general than precise facts.

'_Indeed, those were good times!_'

'_I definitely remember when you Eds spent like the whole day in the kiddy pool. ;)_' Oh, I remembered that one as well; when Eddy thought it would be a good idea to wear the smallest swim trunks known to man and all three pairs broke off leaving us- Wait, that wink... I never thought a wink could be so... Ominous. Was it- Could- Did she know about our unfortunate predicament that day?

'_Oh, you know Ed; he practically held Eddy and I hostage there, wanting to act out some eight hour movie marathon he had seen._' Not only was that a lie but I was entangling another memory in this; fortunately one that Nazz could have no knowledge of.

'_Suuure, that crazy guy Ed. ;)_' I looked up to see her wink and smile slyly; she knew alright.

'_But what fools we made of ourselves back in those days._' I hastily changed the subject; there was something in the glint of her eyes I didn't quite like... '_Especially the crazy dressups Eddy came up with. The rocket car around the world, Professor Scam not to speak of the dreaded Mucky Boys!_' She giggled when she read the examples, memories she hadn't thought of in years no doubt.

'_I always thought it was cute; you guys kept the childish innocence and imagination that the rest of us lost. :)_'

'_Oh, sometimes we got you involved. Remember when Ed became a monster?_'

'_Eeeew, don't even mention it! :O_'

'_Yes, I'll agree that it was one of the more repulsive adventures we experienced..._'

'_Besides all the shit you built out of regular trash was soo awesome dude! ;D_' I couldn't help but feel flattered; not much recognition was thrown my way when it came to the complex contraptions I had built-in my childhood. Mostly because the majority backfired horribly because of Ed and Eddy's interference of some sort.

'_Thank you, Nazz; I do admit that my most creative period was back in the 'good old days of scamming suckers' as Eddy so delicately put it._'

'_You know, I'm surprised you guys never opened a kissing booth._' I once again held back a snort as lost memories of a particular Valentine's Day resurfaced.

'_Oh, but we did. Or, that is, Eddy did._'

'_I never heard of that! __What happened? :O_'

'_Unexpectedly, not the Kanker sisters (although Ed had a brief run in with May) but instead Kevin who told Eddy to shut it down and get to class. The only profit made that day were detention slips for Eddy and I!_'

'_Yeah, Kevin can be a real asshole sometimes..._' My eyes widened; I had never heard Nazz speak an ill word of her former boyfriend before. '_Partly the reason I broke up with him, he was so fucking overprotective. I couldn't talk to another guy without having him hover behind me._ _:/_'

'_I'm certain he just doesn't know how to express his emotions properly._'

'_That's the weird part, he constantly told me how much I meant to him and all that but apparently not enough to let me speak freely to whoever I want._'

'_Maybe that's something he could work on. I mean, Kevin is a perfectly decent guy and I know he would never do anything to hurt you intentionally. In my own humble opinion, I always thought you two seemed to work perfectly as a couple; something I know I, and certainly Eddy, was very jealous of. To find another person with which you can share something so pure and innocent, someone to be there to hold your hand when times are difficult, someone to hold close into the early hours of the morning is... Very rare these days._' At the final punctuation, I realized that I wasn't writing about Nazz and Kevin anymore but... Myself and Marie.

'_That was beautiful dude. I wish Kevin was more like you Double Dee, you'd make an awesome boyfriend._' That was when the bell rang, signalling the end of class. Without realizing the weight of her words, I quickly scribbled down a friendly response and handed back the pad.

'_Thank you, Nazz; I'm certain you would make a good girlfriend._' Without even looking back, I quickly scurried out the classroom and jogged in the direction of my locker while pulling out my cell phone, typing frantically.

'_Hello there, Beautiful; I just happen to have a moment before my next class and would love to spend it with you. Do you remember the old Kanker headquarters where us Eds once approached you with a business proposition?_' I exchanged the Psychology book for... I don't even know what the next subject was; all I could think about was holding, feeling, kissing Marie.

I managed to fumble the phone out of my pocket and before I had finished reading the text, I was running for my life down the halls with a manic grin on my face; dodging students by the dozen.

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 1:45 A.M.**_

* * *

I was frightened, I was desperate but most importantly, I was mortified that something would happen. You know... Sexually. I knew for a fact that once I truly lost myself in something, I wouldn't stop. E.g. the miniature replica of the Golden Gate Bridge; I sat throughout the night, unable to let sleep deprivation get in the way of finishing it. So if I gave it a nibble, maybe I wouldn't stop until the whole muffin had been devoured.

... Parables was never my strong suite under stress.

I didn't want to. I really didn't. But I had to... Get some form of advice.

"Hel-" Whoever answered, their voices inseparable over the phone, leaned away and coughed violently. "Hello."

"Hello; I must beg your pardon for the late-"

"Double-D?"

"Uhm, yes."

"Hey, man! Nice to hear from you!"

"I must apologize but the likeness between your and your sibling's voices are..." The person on the other end laughed.

"No bother, dude; it's Olivia!"

"Oh! Good evening, Olivia!" I felt a slight tinge of disappointment, I had hoped that Max or Simon, Spencer even, would've answered as they had a bigger insight of my relationship with Marie.

I realize now that maybe a proper introduction of the five Flywheels would have been in order a while back, especially since... Since there are only two days left. They were, are, all fantastic people; good friends of all us Rathink kids. Of course, everyone didn't like everyone; Kevin, Max and Simon got into an argument first thing they did while Olivia never quite fancied Eddy's scheming or the unclean ways of Ed.

First, there was the closest thing they had to a leader; Spencer. When I say leader, I mean it not in a way like Lee would be considered the 'leader' of the Kanker sisters, but more the most likely to take charge of a situation; with or without her siblings. Spencer was... Enthusiastic, energetic; often engaging most of the Cul-de-Sac kids in great and imaginative adventures, something she could always trust Ed to take part in.

Secondly, there's the Flywheel who was closest to the Eds; Max. At first sight, he seemed like nothing more than a head-strong, foolish boy taking unnecessary risks but turned out to have an enormous respect and love for life as it was for the moment, seeing everything as a challenge to be tackled. While his time with us Eds calmed him severely, he could still be found climbing up things, his favorite pastime having been popping up with a wide grin on his face outside a second story window; something that did not gain popularity points with Sarah and Nazz.

Linus Flywheel, who Max and Simon introduced as the sensitive one, could be considered the one closest to what society perceives as normal. While Max, Spencer and Simon all had a sense of urgency and a bit of hyperactivity, Linus was always cool-headed and soft-spoken; believing in words over actions. I often thought of him as a combination of myself and Jimmy; quite intelligent and in touch with his emotions, something the others didn't always seem to be.

The Flywheel who spent most of his times with either us Eds, with me or by himself was Simon. The thing about Simon was... He was lost when they came to Peach Creek, apparently scarred by their previous life where bullying was an every day occurrence. Only last time, about a year ago, we had a real heart to heart did he admit to moving on and finally finding some parts of himself. I couldn't have agreed more; they were two different people, the Simon who came to Peach Creek and the Simon who returned to Peach Creek.

Olivia Flywheel, alternatively Oliver, was the fifth and final sibling in the small clan of Flywheel; definitely the one who had the least contact with us Eds, having mostly spent her time around Jonny and Rolf back when the family lived here full time. She was also the only one, as far as I know, who hadn't returned to visit Peach Creek after their abrupt departure. Still, she was a perfectly wonderful person, Spencer's complete opposite; laid back and calm, often taking the option to stay behind and read a book while letting others go on great adventures.

"Wouldn't call it evening, brobeans; early, early Friday morning..." She almost seemed to speak the last part to a melody.

"As I said, I beg your pardon for the late-"

"Nonsense, nonsense; ain't no closing sign on the Flywheel door!" There was a pause with only a sharp inhale being heard. "Sorry, you caught me smoking."

"I thought only Max and Simon smoked?"

"Pfft, they wish; I'm the one who introduced and got them locked on this, the wrathful path of a slow death..." Something we found out during a Cul-de-Sac Halloween party, much to Jimmy's chagrin, was that Olivia could manipulate her voice into one of frightening proportions; not to mention a spot on impression of Vincent Price that scared Rolf witless.

"Oh."

"Yeah, it was two or three years ago at the academy where- FUCK!" I automatically retracted my head from the phone at the loud curse.

"What happened?"

"I dropped it! I wasn't even halfway through!"

"How... Unfortunate?"

"I'll say; now I'm all out until the Stooges come back!" Remembering black and white movies Mother and Father loved to show me as a pre-school child, there were only three people she could be referring to.

"So your brothers are out?"

"I'd love to see them get busted in their current state."

"Wait, they're not inebriate-"

"No, no; they're still in their cute little get-up though!" Ah, of course; Spaulding, Ravelli and Silent Red. I remembered that all too well. "Oh yeah, you and Marie met them at Jones'! Whatchoo think?" So she did know of me and Marie to a certain degree; that certainly saved me some time.

"Marie caught on earlier than I did, although I'm sure Linus would have gotten his face disfigured if she hadn't." She laughed.

"Oh, they really went all out on this one... Linus told me after they left you two alone, he chased Simon who was chasing a cute blonde until, quite literally, they ran into a police officer who was actually really helpful to them. That is until Max showed up and the three of them began selling the officer five dollar bills for a buck each. Chased them for five blocks." I couldn't help but laugh; the Flywheels were definitely in a category of their own. "By the by, congratulations on snagging Marie! Or, her snagging you. Or however it is you kids do it these days." It was then I realized; said girl was probably in my bed waiting for me. And here I was, taking my good old time in the- Good lord, what would Marie think? I had been in there for ten minutes!

"Yes, that's the very reason I phoned your residence at this late hour-"

"Hey, I found a loose one! Don't you just love it when that- Oops, sorry; go on." The click of a lighter was heard along with a sharp inhale.

"- But I didn't know what else to do!"

"Aight, take it from the beginning and don't spare me the details."

"Well, Marie and I were playing cards; joking and having fun as we went when I glanced at the time and saw that it read half past two-"

"Hang on, _she's still there?_"

"Yes!"

"What the hell are you doing talking to me then?! Go get her, 2D!" That one was new.

"2D?"

"Self-explanatory! Here you let me go on and on about the idiot knuckleheads I call brothers while there's a smoking hot chick waiting in your bed! She's in your bed, right?"

"So I would assume!"

"So what do you want, a pat on the back, a cigar, a 'Good job, son; we're all so proud of you'?"

"I- I don't know what to do! I don't know if- I mean, if something _were _to happen, would I _want _it to happen this way or would I-"

"Aight, shut up for a moment and listen." I was thankful for her interruption, being worked up was not something I needed for the moment. "Am _I_ currently in your bed?" While I was used to the Flywheels asking weird questions, they were usually in some way relevant to the conversation which got me thinking; what if I did have an unaccounted visitor?

"I- I don't-"

"No, you moron! I'm on our roof!" Yes, the Flywheels loved to sit on top of their roof. Surprised? "_Who _then is currently in your bed?"

"Why, Marie-"

"_Marie_! So why are you worrying about pelvis pinochle between the two of you with me instead of your possible partner?" That... Hadn't even occurred to me.

"I am... Indeed a moron."

"Nah, you're just a love struck young man who doesn't trust his hormone riddled body! All you needed was a boot up the old keister to- Why the fuck are we still talking? Go get her!"

"I will! Thank you, Olivia!"

"Give her an extra squeeze from me!" With that, she hung up. I lowered the cell phone from my ear and smiled at my own stupidity; while I could easily see and put together details, the big picture and the obvious has never been my strong side.

"Okay... Let's do this." Squeezing toothpaste on to my toothbrush, I swallowed my nervousness once and for all; whatever waited for me when I returned to my room, I was ready for.

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 12:14 P.M.**_

* * *

My recess meeting with Marie in the old abandoned boiler room had made me ten minutes late to whatever class I had next but I couldn't seem to care less. Everything I had worked and strived for in my life up until this point just seemed redundant and... Silly in comparison to what I had with Marie.

I closed my locker with a sigh of relief; lunch. Even though I was bound to spend it listening to Ed ramble on about monster movies, I knew for a fact that I would have a rather good view at the table where the Kanker sisters sat.

You must think that I did nothing but think of Marie all day. If you do, you're absolutely right. Marie never left my mind during this day. The first part of it was in a loving and longing way.

"Hey, Double-D." I turned around to see Nazz standing there, holding her books behind her back.

"Oh, hello there, Nazz. I was just- MMMPHHHHNN!" As I had previously stated, Nazz van Bartonshmeer had been and still was the subject of every young man's desire. So my first natural reaction to find her kissing me was obviously to enjoy it, complete with Eddy's voice whispering "Good job, bro!" in the back of my mind.

This was instantly followed by my second reaction; absolute confusion. Why was Nazz kissing me? Was this to show some form of affection towards my part? And most importantly, what would Mar- MARIE! I loved Marie, not Nazz! Upon awaking from this brief three-second pause from reality, I quickly and forcefully took a firm hold of her shoulders and pushed her back; I can only imagine the size of my eyes.

"Nazz, I- I'm sorry but I-" That was about as far I got before I heard some heavy footsteps down the hall, running in our direction.

"YOU'RE DEAD, DOUBLE-DORK!" I barely had time to even face him before Kevin slammed into me full force, resulting in the two of us tumbling to the floor; hitting the hard surface with Kevin's weight on top of me knocked every breath there ever was out of me.

"Kevin, I-" Was all I managed to wheeze out as an explanation before a fist connected with my chin. Then another. Then another. Before one finally hit me in the eye. It was first then I felt the pain, getting over the shock of having been tackled by a 200 pound football player.

"KEVIN, STOP!" It seemed hopeless; he was sitting over my chest, effectively pinning down my arms in the process. There was nothing I could do but lay there, receiving punch after punch until-

"WHAT. THE. FUCK. DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Opening the undamaged eye, I saw Kevin look up, from what I assume was a rather unattractive version of my face, and his eyes grew wide in terror before a black blur collided with him. Barely having the strength to lift my head, I looked on as Marie graciously rolled off of him and, with a firm grip, slammed Kevin up against the lockers. "ANSWER ME!" Never before had I heard or seen wrath in its purest form... But as it came, its name was Marie Kanker.

"He- He kissed Nazz!" Was all he managed to spit out before she, with frightening speed, punched him square between the eyes.

"YOU!" Letting go of the quarterback, who quietly slipped down the lockers into a deep state of unconsciousness, she turned to me. And even though her face was twisted in rage, an eternal fire of pure black hatred burning in her eyes... She was still so beautiful.

"Marie, I- I'm the one who kisse-" Marie didn't even let her finish before she landed a punch with her right and shoved Nazz into the lockers with her left, opposite the ones she had done the same to Kevin.

"Why the _FUCK _would you think that was a good idea?!" A small number of students were beginning to surround us, obviously curious about what the school's quarterback and head cheerleader had done to receive this punishment.

"I-" Nazz, experiencing the same shock I had felt only moments earlier, whimpered. "I- I don't know; we were..."

"SPEAK UP, BLONDIE!"

"We were like talking during AP Psych and- And I told him he'd make a good boyfriend-" A primal growl quickly rose from Marie's throat. "- And- And he told me I'd make a g-good girlfriend." Nazz's explanation was intercut with several hiccups and sobs; I hardly think she'd stared down the barrel of a fist before.

"Make your peace, bitch." It was when Marie cocked her arm back I found a sudden surge of energy, quite possibly a delayed delivery of adrenaline. I pushed myself off the floor, legs a little unstable but holding me nonetheless.

"Marie." It was barely more than a whispered wheeze but she heard it as clearly as if I had shouted it from the hills. She froze in the middle of the motion. As a matter of fact, the whole hallway did; most of them probably hadn't even noticed me lying there on the floor. Then, she turned slowly.

And just like that, the lights went out and there were no other people in the hall. There were no other people in Peach Creek. No other people in the world. Just an unearthly child and her moon man.

We stared at each other, neither saying a word. I tried to arrange my face into a more apologetic and loving yet sorrowful one, the emotions that overflowed my heart at the moment, but found it too painful; Kevin was a lot stronger than I had given him credit for.

"Marie..." Her eyes; both of them... Completely devoid of all emotions; not even the anger that seemed to have fueled her entire existence just a minute before was left. "Marie, I-" I wanted to tell her. Tell her how it was all a big misunderstanding; how Nazz seemed to have gotten the idea that I harbored an attraction to her, how the initial shock from the kiss made me unable to think, how I had done nothing but think of her... My beautiful girlfriend, all _fucking _day. But I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to it. I- I don't know. "I'm sorry."

She walked towards me, step by step, never breaking eye contact before finally, she stood right in front of me. Then, there, did I see it. The hurt. The pain. The sorrow. The _heartbreak_ in her eyes. And... She did the one thing that I didn't want. The final nail in the coffin.

_She kissed me._

But... There was no love, no care, no happiness. Just... The taste of a broken heart.

A loud ***BANG***, followed by another ***BANG* **broke the kiss and like that, the dark bubble that had shielded us shattered and brought me back to reality where at least half the student body appeared to watch us with wide eyes. They didn't matter though, there was only one person, one girl, who mattered. One girl... Who had ever mattered.

"Marie." She rested her head against my chest and, as I felt the adrenaline boost disappear, my own almost collapsed on top of hers. The scent of strawberries was still there, but fainter this time. Like it was nothing more than a shadow. "Marie, please; I... I love you." But she never responded. She never talked to me. She never looked at me. She just raised her head, a curtain of beautiful blue covering the her even more beautiful face, and walked away. There was no straight back; no little 'swagger' in her step. No, her shoulders and back were hunched up like she was attempting to carry the world on her shoulders. And she was.

The sea of students softly split in two as she walked past, no one daring to say a word. Not until the slam of the front entrance echoed through the halls did everyone begin to move, time restarted and the school day was back to normal.

A group of cheerleaders were quick to scoop Nazz up and guide her on wobbly in the direction of the nurse's office, two football players doing the same with the still unconscious Kevin. The flow of students, some of which gave me sympathetic looks or comforting lines like "Tough break, dude", "You should never two-time hoes, bro; it never works out!" or "I'm sorry, Double-D; I always thought you two'd make a cute couple", quickly scurried off in their respective direction and left the hallway empty, as it was still lunch time.

I was alone.

Marie was... Gone. Gone and broken. And it was all my fault.

Eh... The rest of this day would be nothing but an excessive and excruciatingly painful experience. Therefore, I turned to get the bag from my locker but stopped when I saw the indentation in it and the one to the right.

I left. I walked out of the doors Peach Creek High School for the last time in my life and never looked back, leaving behind a locker containing nothing more than books filled with useless information for the harsh and gritty reality of the world, a bag that I never quite liked and the imprint of Marie Kanker's fist that, together with the neighboring locker, formed two halves of a broken heart.

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 1:07 P.M.**_

* * *

I had taken the long way home, following the creek into the forest located a stone throw from the Cul-de-Sac. At that moment, there was nothing I wanted less than to return to my house where everything would remind me of Marie. The couch where we had first fallen asleep together, watching movies while waiting for Max. The platform on the roof where we had our first kiss. The kitchen where we had tried, and failed miserably, to make waffles. Then failed even more with the pancakes. Before Marie finally revealed she could make French toast like there was no tomorrow. Sliding down the laundry chutes leading to the basement where I had shown my collection of failed invention. The stairs. And of course... My bed.

An unfortunate rock travelled quite the distance courtesy of my shoe.

I didn't even- I mean- What the hell had happened? At one moment, I was getting ready to eat my lunch; the next, Kevin is using my face as a punching bag because _Nazz _kissed _me_! Why- Why would Nazz even have kissed me? Was it do to a deep rooted- The pad. During AP Psychology. Of course... I am a moron.

I would make an 'awesome' boyfriend, she would make a good... GOD DAMN IT!

In my rushed desire to spend even the slightest amount of time with Marie, I had completely misinterpreted the hidden meaning behind Nazz's seemingly innocent-

...

Pardon me for a moment.

...

_*sniffle*_

_.._.

Fun thing; ever since Marie entered my life seventeen days ago, I manage to wean myself off of my comprehensive vocabulary a bit and only use it extensively when terribly stressed or terribly upset.

Where was I?

Oh, yes.

I stumbled out of the forest, feeling the swelling from my bruised and battered face getting worse by the minute. All I wanted to do was fall over and lie there until... Well, the end of time sounded good. But I trudged onwards, knowing that collapsing on my couch would be much more appreciated once I awoke; painful memories aside.

The Cul-de-Sac looked the same, unchanged through the years. Quieter though, since most of the inhabitants were either still in school or at work. I appreciated the silence for a moment before continuing the tiresome walk to my house. I had only known the _real _Marie Kanker for nine days but it felt more like a lifetime. A lifetime of happiness, laughing, sunshine... All thrown away because I couldn't explain myself. I could almost hear the tragic violin music being queued.

I contemplated paying a visit to the Kankers' trailer; clear everything out, hold her, kiss her, love her again. But I knew that she would want to listen to my feeble excuses now, much too upset to even think about forgiving me. Besides, if her sisters had decided to skip or even worse, _her mother_ was home, I would most certainly obtain something that matched my face at the moment.

Okay... That was weird; now I was sure that I could hear violin music. I was very much correct, the solemn melody was echoing across the empty streets, infiltrating every crook and crevice. Not a piece I could instantly recognize, I turned to every house on the block in mild curiosity; searching for the source. Then I found it.

On top of the roof that belonged to the Flywheel house, Spencer was sitting cross-legged, gently moving the bow across the body of the enchanted instrument. And... It was beautiful. The notes that escaped were telling a heartbreaking story, not unlike my own. If I had still believed in coincidences (a belief that was slowly being undermined) I would have been so selfish to think that the music was weeping over my lost love. To think that Spencer, the hyperactive blur of sleeve wearing emotions, could produce something so... Flawless. So rare to see a Flywheel completely at peace too; her eyes closed and mind focused on the magic she created. My intention was to move, to go home but I couldn't. Haunting me, nurturing me, feeding me. I didn't even know what I was thinking anymore.

The piece ended, much too soon for my own liking, and she slowly opened her eyes to see me standing in the middle of the street, staring up at her. She stared back in surprise for a moment before grinning and with cat-like reflexes, grabbed a hold of the nearby drain pipe and swung herself off the roof; quickly sliding down the side of the house.

"The fiddler on the fucking roof!" The way she grinned and held up the violin as she approached me, sans the profound statement, gave her the appearance of a small child proudly showing off some new found skill to a parent. Once she was within ten feet of me however, the grin faded and a concerned look replaced it. "Holy- Who's fist did you run into, 2D?"

"Kevin's." I saw no reason to lie; by then, the whole High School must have known about what had gone down in the hallway.

"What did you do to deserve this?" She rounded me once before stopping in front of me, frowning. I wanted to tell her the whole story; how wonderful my night with Marie had been, how Nazz kissed me and surprise seized me from breaking it right away, how scared I had been that Marie would have done something regrettable, how much I hated myself when I saw the heartbreak in her eyes, how the lifeless kiss had crushed my hopes and dreams, how I had wanted nothing more than to run after her and hold her until there were no more problems in this world. But I was too exhausted. I was... Tired. So I did the only thing I could think of.

I laughed. I laughed and I laughed until the laughter turned into tears, falling and staining the ground like unpredictable summer rain. Spencer was quick to scoop me into a hug and said nothing while I laughed and cried into her shoulder. I never noticed when she joined me; silently crying into my shoulder, most likely over problems of her own I couldn't even begin to imagine. And like the very music she had created only minutes earlier, we stood there in the middle of the Cul-de-Sac; weeping over the cruel reality that were our respective lives.

"I... Fucked up."

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 1:57 A.M.**_

* * *

"I was starting to think you'd bolted out the bathroom window, Oven Mitt." She was already in bed when I re-entered my room, lying on her side with her arm propping up her head.

"Oh, I apo-" My eyes automatically found the pile of her clothes thrown carelessly at the foot of the bed, they would of course do that anyway, and I almost lost my breath. On top of her jeans was her brassiere. If you've followed me through this story so far, I don't think I need to elaborate on my reactions.

... Oh. I just remembered.

Yes, for this part to make any sense, I must inform you that from entering the room to actually lying down next to Marie, a series of unfortunate and quite embarrassing events occurred that... No, I'm not going to tell you about this part. Heavens no.

So, skipping ahead a bit, I finally managed to change into my sleeping attire (only the long pyjama pants and night cap though, Marie called the shirt 'overkill') and slipped in underneath the covers; Marie waiting a moment before placing her head against my bare chest and hugging my midsection.

We stayed like that; I was almost afraid to breathe because I might disturb her but she seemed perfectly satisfied with her positioning. And indeed, after a while, it felt... Natural. Like breathing. Things we... We take for granted.

"So-"

"I-" We both begun at the same time and hearing the other talk, both grew quiet at the same time. "Oh, it wasn't important. What were you saying?"

"Well, there's this... I don't know, you could call it a game, that... A friend taught me."

"Would it require leaving this bed?" She leaned her head back and locked eyes with me, raising a questioning eyebrow which confused me; I had previously stated that the hour was rather late, at least for me. But once I realized how our conversation could be misinterpreted, a heated blush spread across my face. "Please ignore that last part. Continue."

"It's sorta like a 'get-to-know-each-other-better' thing; we just ask each other 21 questions and the other one have to answer truthfully to every one, no matter the question." A chance to get to know Marie better? I was never too tired for that.

"Sounds interesting. Shall we begin?"

"You first, Oven Mitt."

"Very well... What is your full name?"

"Marie Elizabeth Kanker. Same question."

"Eddward... Marion Hammer."

"It suits you."

"I never quite liked it."

"Do you know what Kanker means? That's not a question, by the way."

"I... No, I can't say I do."

"It's the German word for 'cancer'."

"... Marion's not that bad."

"I'd say. Your turn."

"Uhm... Birthday?"

"October 22nd. I'mma pretend I don't know yours and ask you back."

"Wait, you know the date of my birth?"

"Remember, locked in school over night, snooped through the records...?"

"Ah, yes; of course. Well, I would like another question then, it's hardly fair I learn 21 things about you while you only-"

"You're cute when you get going." I blushed and closed my mouth. "How... Long have you known Ed and Eddy?"

"Oh, I would think... Yes, sixteen years, eight months and... Seventeen days."

"Whoa."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, it's just I have trouble remembering something like Lee's or May's birthday while you remember something that happened almost seventeen years ago!"

"It's nothing impressive, I actually met them on the same day my family moved into this house."

"I take back that whoa."

"Where did you and your family live before you moved to Peach Creek?"

"Around the Midwest; we moved a lot before Mom finally decided to settle down here. A perk of having a trailer is that you get to see the world. Where did you live?"

"North side of Chicago, close to where my paternal grandparents rest."

"When did they die?"

"July, four years ago; Grandmother had a fatal heart attack at the supermarket and Grandfather passed not long after that, Father speculates it was out of loneliness; they were teenage sweethearts."

"I'm sorry."

"No worries, we shall all leave this lifetime sooner or later."

"I hope it's later." She squeezed my hand and I smiled, holding her a little tighter. "You got two questions now."

"Oh. I... Do you have any grandparents?"

"I had. Birdie passed before Lee turned three and Ace never took another woman again, saying his daughter and beautiful granddaughters provided him with enough X-chromosomes. He went last year, lung cancer. That's on Mom's side, don't know shit about Dad."

"It seems rather unorthodox to call your grandparents by their first names. Not that there's something wrong with-"

"Relax, Cutie. We tried a couple of times but Ace'd get pissed whenever we called him 'the g-word'; he wanted us to think of him more of a Mr. Miyagi and less like an old man whose pockets always rang with change and smelled of stale cigarettes and oranges. Those were his exact words."

"He sounds like a good man."

"Oh, you would've loved him, Oven Mitt. He loved nothing more than to take things apart, learn how they work and then put them back together. Once when he was over, the TV went on the fritz and..." She laughed fondly at the memory and my insides lit up; true laughs that came from the heart was still something I wasn't used to from Marie. "And I can still see him sit there on the floor with a screwdriver behind his ear, his tongue hanging out, he always did that when he had concentrated hard, and the TV is disassembled all around him down to the tiniest screw when he turns to Lee and asks:" She coughed loudly.

"_Pumpkin, didn't you say that the blender was on the fritz too?_" The raspy voice that escaped her throat could only be a shadow of what her grandfather's voice once had been.

"_Sure is, Ace._" Her Lee impression was frighteningly close to the original.

"_Well, bring it over! I think I might be able to get you girls cable!_" We broke out into laughter; he did sound like a man I would have enjoyed to meet. He didn't sound so much different from my own grandfather.

"I would have loved to have met him." She raised her head and looked at me before lowering it again, a smile playing over her lips.

"Your turn."

"Oh, yes... What's your mother's name?"

"Debbie, Debbie Kanker. Yours?"

"Mother's maiden name was Hannah Loophole-" A giggle escaped her; never would I have thought Marie to be capable of such a... Girlish sound. "- And Father's name is Gilbert Hammer."

"It sounds... Like it suits them."

"What is... Your favorite color?"

"Really?"

"I'm genuinely curious!"

"... It's black, don't dress in it though; too depressing."

"Interesting."

"Aight, what's yours?"

"Well, it used to be magenta but-"

"What the fuck is that?"

"It's a sort of light purple, just between red and violet on a color chart. Though lately, I find myself a lot more infatuated with the color of the deepest of oceans or the clearest of skies or-"

"The color of my hair?" I blushed yet again; she was most certainly never going to stop teasing me.

"It's possible." She lightly slapped my side.

"Your question, infatuation-boy."

"Oh, this is quite difficult..." Then I remembered a question that Max asked me a long, long time ago when we were still bonding as friends. "If you could go anywhere at anytime in the whole universe, where would you go?"

"Hmm, that's a good one... Since 'right here in your arms' would be too cliché, I gotta say... Under the sea in an octopus' garden with you." I felt my brows furrow automatically.

"Is- Is that some sort of euphemism?"

"I'm not gonna say, wouldn't want you to waste a question." She pushed herself up and quickly brushed her lips against mine with a teasing smirk. "Same question."

"I'm not all that certain... Once upon a time, I would have wished for nothing more than to have been there in Italy during the height of the Renaissance... But now..." I fell silent, thinking back to a conversation I had with Simon a year or two ago.

"Oven Mitt?"

"Simon spoke of a location once... A place he had yet to visit but was so close to his soul, he would know the way when he came close enough. Part heaven, part space; where he would finally find himself completely... I think I found what he described that day."

"Where?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Your arms." She stared at me for three seconds before playfully punching me in the chest; playful from her perspective, I was almost sure she had broken a rib.

"You don't win me over with cheesy lines like that, Cutie."

"Oh, we shall see. Uhm, question, question..." There was one question I had been pondering about for a few days. "When did you first meet Max?"

"The forest; I guess I was crying over life and shit-" I could not for the life of me picture Marie crying; she had always seemed so... Well, that was before these nine days but she always felt a little detached from her emotions, like they were a horrible thing in need of purging. "- And he just happened to walk by. We talked for like hours, he made me feel better about some things and here I am today." She squeezed me affectionately and- Did that mean what I think it meant?

"Max was the good friend who gave you advice about me?"

"Yeah."

"Curious."

"What?"

"Life works in mysterious ways, I presume." She shrugged lightly.

"Next question... Do you have any cute childhood nicknames?"

"Well, there's Double-D..."

"That doesn't count!"

"... And then there's 'Moon Man', something Grace would call me; we used to imagine living on the moon where everything was peaceful, hate was non-existent and we could play until 'the moon-cows came home', as she used to say."

"You were close, weren't you?"

"We were." I paused and sighed slowly; we _had_ been close. "Did you have any nicknames?"

"I had a bunch, seeing how Lee, May and I never called each other by names but ridiculous nicknames like 'Booger-breath'." She snickered and I couldn't help but do the same; deep down, the three sisters loved each other unconditionally. "But there was one that Ace use to call me. At first, I thought it was because of the eye and the blue hair but he then sat me down and told me it was 'cause I was beautiful beyond this world."

"What was it?"

"An unearthly child."

"Your grandfather was a wise man." She suddenly sniffled and tried her hardest to avoid my concerned gaze.

"Anyway... Would you ever consider a tattoo and if so, what?" Wait, was she- She wasn't- "I'm not suggesting _we _get one as a couple or anything. Life's filled with too many uncertainties for love to be permanent."

"Oh..." I was a bit saddened by her sudden cynicism, wondering what could have brought it on. "I- I don't know actually, I've never really considered having a permanent message on my skin... If I were to get one, it would most likely be in memory of a loved one, a friend, maybe a phrase or advice that helped me shape my life into something greater." A tattoo? Me? The thought was preposterous... Or at least it had been before Marie. But even if I wanted to, I had nothing to put down in ink; no lost loved ones, no life-changing sayings. Perhaps staying Au naturel would be better in the end. "What about you?"

"You haven't seen them?"

"Seen what?" Without answering, she slowly pushed herself up, standing on her knees facing me before lifting up her tank top. I felt something tug in the lower stomach area but was surprised when she stopped, holding it in place just under the breasts. And there, across the right side of her rib cage, were five lines of cursive words imprinted which I had to lean closer to read properly.

"_There's nothing you can do that can't be done  
__Nothing you can sing that can't be sung  
__Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game  
__It's easy_  
_All you need is love_"

She quickly lowered the top again and turned around, lowering one of the shoulder straps revealing that her left shoulder was adorned with the same cursive writing, bright red though.

"_Strawberry Fields Forever_"

Hesitating a little, she pulled up the back of the top, baring her back to me. It was far from bare though; a very detailed image depicting a brightly yellow submarine travelling through a landscape of octopodes who appeared... To be doing garden work.

Lastly, and to the delight of the teenager in me, she pulled down the pyjama pants to- I have to stop myself from describing what I saw in too great a detail- show the last tattoo; from her hip halfway down to the knee were several lines of the same cursive text.

_"Until the roof, the roof comes off  
Until my legs give out from underneath me  
I will not fall, I will stand tall  
Feels like no one can beat me_"

She pulled the pants back up and turned around again in the same motion, chewing her lip nervously.

"The first one is a Beatles song Mom used to sing to Lee, May and me whenever we came home crying 'cause someone picked on us. This was way before Peach Creek and the days of the 'horrible Kanker sisters'." She added quickly. "Strawberry Fields was this run down trailer park, named after the Beatles' song and opened by hippies in the seventies, where we lived for seven years after May was born. I still remember our neighbors, this old couple who was stuck there because he couldn't get the car to work. Until I fixed it."

"But I thought you lived there until May was seven?" She blushed deeply and looked down, obviously not used to drawing attention to her mechanic side.

"They actually left a year before we did."

"That's even more amazing!" Perhaps, the two of us weren't that different; she obviously knew her way around a car and I would always have a burning curiosity running through my veins for everything mechanic.

"Anyway-" Quickly changing the subject, she tugged at the hem of her top; even though we were girlfriend and boyfriend, and still not used to it, I still found Marie getting embarrassed whenever I paid her the smallest compliment. Apparently it seemed something she hadn't really been on the receiving end of. "'Yellow Submarine' and 'Octopus' Garden' were two songs Mom, and sometimes Lee, would sing to us at bedtime; she wanted us to imagine being off and travelling the world, seeing the planet and meeting the most fantastic people... Instead of a shitty trailer where we could hear her argue with boyfriends in the next room." She was no longer terribly embarrassed, instead a crippling sadness had appeared in those gorgeous eyes.

"Marie..."

"And the fourth-" She snivelled and continued, pushing down whatever emotions the childhood memory caused. "- The leg one, is the newest one; an Eminem song I got last month to mark a new beginning. You know, focusing on school, going to college, finally giving up on you-"

"Thank heavens that last one backfired." She laughed and hiccuped.

"Yeah..." That beautiful blue eye looked up and, just like the first day of this story, it felt like she was staring into my soul. A small smile. "I want you to know something, Double-D." It felt so strange not to be called nicknames to the likes of 'Oven Mitt' and 'Cutie'.

"What would that be?"

"I like you. I really, really like you." And with that, she threw herself at me and tumbling backwards down into the soft bed; kissing every surface of my face like she had done so many times before when we were young. But for the first time, I didn't mind. Not one bit.

* * *

_**Day nine: April 25, 9:32 P.M.**_

* * *

I woke up with a start, shivering uncontrollably despite the warm shower beam still raining down on me. It was all slowly coming back to me; Psychology with Nazz, Marie in the hallway, Spencer playing the violin before following me back to my house, making dinner to us (which I not so politely refused three fourths of) before forcing me into the bathroom where she expected me to shower. I must have fallen asleep from the exhaustion. And it had not been a good sleep; it had been nothing more than a dreamless, black abyss.

Slowly standing up until I was sure my legs were steady enough to hold me, I turned off the shower and stepped out. As fast as a mindless zombie could, I dried myself up and made way to my room; careful not to look in the mirror where I would surely find a broken man.

Once there, even more came back to me. The night, the morning I had experienced with Marie in there. Our first real night together. And then this happened.

I moved to the bed, carelessly throwing the wet towel in a corner and putting on my night cap and pyjama pants. She had been right; the shirt was overkill. Shaking the right leg of the pants due to sudden discomfort, I barely raised an eyebrow when a folded note landed next to my foot. I may have been mindless but there was nothing wrong with the old curiosity since I bent over and slowly unfolded it.

_Hey, Double-D._

_I'm sorry I had to bolt so quickly but you seemed so peaceful in the tub so I just left you there. Don't worry, didn't look; just had to make sure you were still alive._

_I left you something on the computer too, well; Simon and Olivia insisted I do it. All you gotta do is hit 'space'._

_Talk to you soon, bro and don't worry; you two love birds will figure this out in the end. ;)_

_Sincerely yours_

_Spencer Flywheel_

_P.S. I think Marie left you another note by the computer. Not while I was here, must've been from earlier. Didn't read it, promise!_

While thankful for Spencer's care during the afternoon, the note was... Just too damn cheerful, it almost sickened me.

Making my way to the computer, I noticed that it was very well on and there was indeed a note next to the keyboard. Following the instructions, I pressed the space button before slowly unfolding this paper to find Marie's rough and absolutely adorable handwriting.

_Hey, Snugglepuff._

_You're in the kitchen, making breakfast like a good little man while I just got out of the shower. I don't know what's gonna happen after school today so in the case I'm not there, I just wanted to tell you that I had a bitchin 21st question for you last night._

_Is Marie Kanker falling in love with Eddward Hammer?_

_XOXO_

_P.S. I'm totally naked right now_

_P.P.S. The answer is yes_

I couldn't stop the tears from falling this time and I didn't want to. I had lost her. In less than a day, I had lost the greatest thing that had happened to me since Ed ate a television to get Eddy a handful of quarters.

_Hello there, the angel from my nightmare  
The shadow in teh background of the morgue  
The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley  
We can live like Jack and Sally if we want_

As I dragged myself to and collapsed across the bed, I silently thanked whatever Flywheel it was who had come up with the idea of the music blaring out of the speakers connected to the computer. For the moment, I didn't want to be cheered up. I didn't need to feel better. I wanted to feel like absolute shit, I wanted to miss her, I wanted to force myself to lie there in a fetal position and breathe in her scent while the, to me but not the Flywheels or Marie, unknown music, slowly tortured me to death.

_Where you can always find me  
And we'll have Halloween on Christmas  
And in the night we'll wish this never ends  
We'll wish this never ends_

Why did I want this for myself? Why would I want this for myself?

It's quite simple.

_I miss you_

I fucking deserved it.


	10. AN: Much More To Say, Foolish To Try

Oh, I wouldn't go so far as to call this the tenth chapter of 'It All Comes Down to the Choices We Make'; I'm merely using this story to announce a _**hiatus/semi-retirement on my part as a writer**_.

For you see, I am not the Flywheel I once was nor will I ever be again. **_So you can consider Flywheel very dead indeed._**

I might come back, I'm almost certain I will. But until that day, and I beg you not to wait up for me, just consider me another one of those authors who abandoned every story they ever worked on and left the readers on an eternal cliffhanger.

I hope you won't hate me too much for this. I'm just another motherfucker in this world dyin' to live.

Until we meet again, dear reader

_**John**_


End file.
